The Barbados threadsnake (''Tetracheilostoma carlae'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of threadsnake. It is the smallest known

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

species. This member of the

Leptotyphlopidae The Leptotyphlopidae (commonly called slender blind snakes or thread snakes) are a family of snakes found in North America, South America, Africa and Asia. All are fossorial and adapted to burrowing, feeding on ants and termites. Two subfamilies ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

is found on the Caribbean islands of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

and

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...

Taxonomy and etymology

The Barbados threadsnake was first identified as a separate species in 2008 by S. Blair Hedges, a

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

from Pennsylvania State University.Dunham, Will. ''Reuters UK'' (3 August 2008). (See: ¶ 5) Hedges named the new species of snake in honor of his wife, Carla Ann Hass, a

who was part of the discovery team. Specimens already existed in reference collections in the London

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

and in a museum in California, but they had been incorrectly identified to belong to another species. At the time of publication, August 2008, ''T. carlae'' was described as the snake species with the smallest adults in the world. The first scientific specimens taken by the research team were found under rocks in a forest. The snake is thought to be near the lower size limit for snakes, as young snakes need to attain a certain minimum size to find suitable food.

Description

Tetracheilostoma_carlae_(Leptotyphlops_carlae)

The average total length (including tail) of ''T. carlae'' adults is approximately 10 cm (3.94 inches), with the largest specimen found to date measuring 10.4 cm (4.09 inches) in total length. The snake is said by Hedges to be "about as wide as a

spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...

noodle." The photograph above shows ''L. carlae'' on a quarter dollar, a coin with a

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...

of 24.26 mm (0.955 inches). The specimen weighed 0.6 grams.

Diet

''T. carlae'' is thought to feed primarily on a diet of

termites Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattod ...

and

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

Reproduction

Threadsnakes (Leptotyphlopidae) are oviparous, laying eggs to reproduce. The female of this snake species, ''T. carlae'', produces only one large egg at a time. The emerging offspring is about half the length of the mother. Small species of snakes such as ''T. carlae'' have relatively large new-born offspring compared to adults. The offspring of the largest snakes are only one-tenth the length of an adult, whereas offspring of the smallest snakes typically are one-half the length of an adult (see figure). The tiny snakes produce only one, massive egg – relative to the size of the mother.

Conservation status

Little is known about the ecology, abundance, or distribution of this species, ''T. carlae''. Essentially, Barbados has no original forest remaining, however, this native species very likely requires a forest habitat for survival since it evolved in the presence of forests. Based on the small number of known specimens and its distribution apparently being restricted to eastern Barbados, the continued survival of the species is a concern.

References

External links

*. {{Taxonbar, from=Q310908 Leptotyphlopidae Reptiles described in 2008 Taxa named by Stephen Blair Hedges Snakes of the Caribbean Reptiles of Barbados Endemic fauna of Barbados Tetracheilostoma