The world’s smallest snake lives on the island nation of Barbados in the Caribbean. The Barbados threadsnake is just 7.5-10 centimeters (3-4 inches) long. It is about the width of a spaghetti noodle.
Barbados threadsnakes spend most of their time underground. Nobody had seen a Barbados threadsnake for 20 years until scientists found one in 2025.
“I was making a joke and in my head I said, ‘I smell a threadsnake,’” said biologist Justin Springer. “I just had a feeling, but I couldn’t be sure because we turned over a lot of rocks before that and we saw nothing.”
Justin’s colleague, Connor Blades, pried a rock loose from under a tree root. There, in the soil of central Barbados, they found both an earthworm and the world’s smallest snake.
Scientists had been searching for the Barbados threadsnake for more than a year.
“Barbados threadsnakes are blind snakes, so they’re very cryptic,” said Connor. “They’re quite rare also, it seems. There have only been a handful of confirmed sightings since 1889, so there are not many people who have ever seen it, unfortunately.”
The Barbados threadsnake lives in a very endangered forest habitat. About 98% of Barbados’s original forests have been cleared for farming. Many endemic species found only in Barbados have gone extinct, including the Barbados racer, Barbados skink, and the Barbados rice rat.
“The threadsnake’s rediscovery is also a call to all of us as Barbadians that forests in Barbados are very special and need protection,” said Justin. “Not just for the threadsnake, but for other species as well. For plants, animals, and our heritage.”
David Brown adapted this story for Mongabay Kids. It is based on an article by Liz Kimbrough published on Mongabay News.
