The world's smallest snake was found for the first time in 20 years

In Barbados, the world's smallest snake, which scientists had already considered extinct, has been found. CBS News reports.

The Barbados threadsnake was spotted by Connor Blades, an employee of the country's Ministry of Environment. He said that he went to the forest with a team. One part of the team was looking for the snake, while the other was studying a tree that is rare on the island. The small snake was found under a rock. Blades immediately took it to the laboratory for study.

Blades explained that the Barbados snake (Tetracheilostoma carlae) can be easily confused with the brahminy blindsnake - a snake that resembles an earthworm. However, he was lucky: he found exactly the Barbados threadsnake. This happened for the first time in 20 years. The last time the small snake came to the attention of scientists was in 2005.

Representatives of the species Tetracheilostoma carlae are blind. They dig burrows, feed on termites and ants, and lay only one egg at a time. Adult Barbados snakes reach only 10 centimeters in length.