Which snake is recognized as the world’s smallest known snake species?

The Barbados threadsnake is recognized as the world’s smallest known snake species.

Its scientific name is Tetracheilostoma carlae. The species was described from Barbados and belongs to the threadsnake family Leptotyphlopidae, a group of very small, burrowing snakes. Adults are so slender that they can be mistaken for large worms at a glance.

The Barbados threadsnake lives in soil and leaf litter, where its reduced eyes and narrow body suit an underground lifestyle. Like other threadsnakes, it feeds largely on tiny social insects and their larvae. Its small size creates an important biological limit: a female can produce only very small offspring, which are relatively large compared with the mother.

The species is sometimes confused with the Brahminy blind snake, another tiny burrowing snake that is widespread and often spread by human activity. They are different species and belong to different genera.