World's smallest snake makes big comeback

Washington: A snake so small it could be mistaken for a worm has been spotted in Barbados, nearly two decades after it was thought to have been lost...

Washington: A snake so small it could be mistaken for a worm has been spotted in Barbados, nearly two decades after it was thought to have been "lost" to science.

The Barbados threadsnake (Tetracheilostoma carlae) was found hiding under a rock in central Barbados during an ecological survey in March by the Barbados Ministry of the Environment and National Beautification and conservation group Re:wild.

"Barbados threadsnakes are blind snakes, so they're very cryptic," said Connor Blades, a project officer with the Ministry of Environment in Barbados who helped make the finding, in a statement.

"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."

Measuring just three to four inches long (eight to 10 centimeters) when fully grown -- tiny enough to almost fit on a US quarter coin -- the Barbados threadsnake is the world's smallest species of snake.