Barbados threadsnake
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| An adult Barbados threadsnake on an American quarter dollar | |
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L. carlae
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| Binomial name | |
| Leptotyphlops carlae |
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The Barbados threadsnake (Leptotyphlops carlae) is a species of blind threadsnake. It is the smallest known snake species.[1] This member of the Leptotyphlopidae family is found only on the Caribbean island of Barbados.
The snake was first identified as a separate species in 2008 by S. Blair Hedges, a herpetologist from Pennsylvania State University.[2] Hedges named the new species of snake in honor of his wife, Carla Ann Hass, a herpetologist who was part of the discovery team.[3][4] Specimens already existed in reference collections in the London Natural History Museum and in a museum in California, but they had been incorrectly identified to belong to another species.[1]
At the time of publication, August 2008, L. carlae was described as the snake species with the smallest adults in the world.[5][6] 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.[6]
Contents
Description
The average length of Leptotyphlops carlae adults is approximately 10 cm, (3.9 inches), with the largest specimen found to date measuring 10.4 cm (4.09 inches).[1] The snakes are said by Hedges to be "about as wide as a spaghetti noodle.[2] The photograph above shows L. carlae on a quarter dollar, a coin with a diameter of 24.26 mm (0.955 inches).
L. carlae is thought to feed primarily on a diet of termites and ant larvae.[6] Threadsnakes are oviparous, laying eggs to reproduce. The female of this snake species produces only one large egg at a time. The emerging offspring is about half the length of the mother.[6]
Small species of snake such as L. 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 below). The tiny snakes produce only one, massive egg—relative to the size of the mother—which may[vague] suggest that there is a size limit for snake species below which survival is difficult, for internal physiological or external competitive reasons.[citation needed]
Geographic range and habitat
L. carlae is believed to be endemic only to the island of Barbados in the Caribbean. Two recent specimens of the snake were collected near a small remnant of a secondary forest in the east-central area of Barbados. This area is the oldest part of Barbados, the first to emerge from the ocean, and the only part that is not covered by a Pleistocene reef cap.[1]
Secondary forests similar to where the specimens were found are likely to be a sufficient habitat for this species. As Barbados is extremely densely populated and now largely deforested, the suitable habitat for L. carlae is probably no more than a few square kilometers.[1]
Conservation status
Little is known about the ecology, abundance, or distribution of this species.[1] 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.[1] 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.
See also
- List of leptotyphlopid species and subspecies
- Leptotyphlopidae, valid scientific names.
- Leptotyphlopidae by common name
- Leptotyphlopidae by taxonomic synonyms
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dunham, Will. Reuters UK (3 August 2008). (See: ¶ 5) World's smallest snake is as thin as spaghetti at the Wayback Machine (archived September 2, 2008)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Leptotyphlops carlae, p. 48).
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons- Barbados threadsnake at the Reptile Database
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