A Barbados thread snake curls up on a U.S. quarter. The soil-burrowing reptile is one of a newly discovered snake species that is being called the world’s smallest.

At about ten centimeters long (less than four inches), the new snake species was confirmed through genetic tests and studies of its physical features, said biologist Blair Hedges of Penn State university, who led the new study on the snake to be published in the journal Zootaxa.

Hedges believes the Barbados thread snake may be at or near the smallest size possible for snakes, due to an evolutionary trade-off between size and reproductive strategy.

Any further miniaturization, he said, would prevent the snakes from producing offspring large enough to forage independently and consume insect larvae.

I used to hang out in St. Philip Parish back in the day. Never did see one of these little critters.

Of course, the quantity of Mount Gay rum I used to consume may have something to do with that, eh?