World’s smallest snake found in Martinique
FORT DE FRANCE, Martinique (CMC) — The world’s smallest snake has been discovered on the French Caribbean island of Martinique.
The snake, scientifically known as Tetracheilostoma sp nov, belongs to the thread snake family.
According to scientists, the snake is only 10 centimetres (three inches) long and is so small that it can pass through a lead-less pencil.
The snake is even smaller than the previous titleholder of the world’s smallest snake that is found in Barbados.
The scientists who found the snake — Blair Hedges and Mael Dewynter from Pennsylvania State University in the United States — are of the view that it can only be found in Martinique.
The scientists say the snake spends most of its time underground to protect itself from danger, but although tiny in size, it’s a prodigious predator.
According to Hedges, islands seem to be the perfect home for the world’s largest and smallest creatures.
“This is the place where species evolve with time to fill the ecological slots in habitats that remain unoccupied by other creatures.”
Hedges also discovered the Barbados thread snake in 2008.
