Back From Hiss-tory: World’s Smallest Snake Rediscovered In Barbados After 20 Years

Last Updated:July 24, 2025, 18:45 IST

Once feared extinct, the Barbados threadsnake- thinner than spaghetti and barely 10cm long- has slithered back into scientific spotlight.

The snake measures no longer than 10 centimeters when fully grown.

World’s smallest snake, Barbados threadsnake, was found by scientists two decades after it was last seen. The snake- measuring no longer than 10 centimeters when fully grown and as slender as a strand of spaghetti- was feared extinct. The elusive reptile was found under a rock in central Barbados during an ecological survey in March in an expedition led by the Barbados environment ministry and conservation nonprofit Re:wild.

The Barbados threadsnake- once listed among 4,800 species globally considered “lost to science"- had not been officially sighted since the early 2000s.

Justin Springer, Caribbean programme officer at Re:wild, said he was joking with his colleague while turning over a rock tangled in tree roots when he exclaimed, “I smell a threadsnake." He said, “When you are so accustomed to looking for things and you don’t see them, you are shocked when you actually find it."

The find came as a thrill to Connor Blades, a project officer for the environment ministry, who had spent over a year with Justin Springer searching for the snake and other rare Barbadian reptiles. He said, “If the threadsnake population is not very dense, I am worried about their ability to find mates, particularly if their habitat is under threat and being degraded."

The Barbados threadsnake, first recorded in 1889, is known to reproduce sexually, with females laying just one egg at a time- a rarity in the reptile world where some species can reproduce without mating. Barbados has lost 98% of its native forests, largely due to agricultural development since colonization more than five centuries ago. Conservationists fear that habitat loss and invasive species could once again push the threadsnake toward extinction.

Justin Springer said, “The threadsnake’s rediscovery is also a call to all of us as Barbadians that forests in Barbados are very special and need protection. Not just for the threadsnake, but for other species as well. For plants, animals and our heritage."

Location :

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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News world Back From Hiss-tory: World’s Smallest Snake Rediscovered In Barbados After 20 Years