But while American scientist and herpetologist Professor S. Blair Hedges announced to the world on Monday he had "discovered" earth's tiniest snake – as thin as a spaghetti noodle – in the eastern part of the island, Barbadians were saying it was no discovery at all.
Hedges' revelation, first published in the journal Zootaxa on Monday and then picked up by numerous media networks and websites worldwide, stated the reptile, which lives in forested areas and feeds primarily on the larvae of ants and termites, was the only one of its kind, out of more than 3 000 snake species.
He has named the "discovered" species Leptotyphlops carlae – after his herpetologist wife Carla Ann Hass.
Hedges, who has been credited with discovering the world's smallest frog and co-discovery of the smallest lizard on an island off the coast of the Dominican Republic in 2001, said he made the find in June 2006 on a four-day visit.
"Because of the area of research, I kind of know how to look for these things," he told the WEEKEND NATION in a telephone interview from his office at Penn State University in Pennsylvania.
He added that accompanied by his wife, he drove to St Joseph and St John and after some searching, found one snake "under a rock".
"We drove around the island but found no more. Then on the last day we found one [more]."
The scientist said he returned home with the preserved specimens, after getting all the relevant permits from the then Ministry of Energy and the Environment.
This was confirmed by officials in that ministry on Wednesday.
Hedges added it took two years, including DNA testing and comparison with snakes from other islands, before his work could be published.
The professor said the snake was so rare, there were only five specimens collected in museums around the world.
However, Damon Corrie, the man who led the hunt two years ago for a number of large, non-poisonous snakes thought to be loose on the island, said this was no "discovery" at all.
Corrie, founder/president of the Caribbean Herpetological Society, told the WEEKEND NATION: "For him to claim that he 'discovered' this is like Columbus all over again. He might be the first person to scientifically examine and describe it, but he is certainly not the first person to discover it.
"I remember seeing in an old copy of the Guinness Book Of World Records that the smallest snake in the world was found in Barbados. So the fact that we had the smallest snake is not a 'new discovery' at all."
Corrie, who has been a herpetologist for more than two decades, added that "at best, perhaps he has examined a specimen of a previously unknown to science species; but one that has been known to local Barbadians long before I was born."
In fact, shortly after the announcement, Corrie said he sent a response to the Associated Press in which he stated, among other things: "Myself and other Barbadians have been finding it . . . for decades.
"S. Blair Hedges and his wife paid me once to show them where to find leptotyphlops bilineata in Barbados; I turned over a stone in the parish of St Joseph and showed it to him."
Historian Dr Karl Watson said while he could understand Hedges' scientific analysis, "perhaps he wasn't aware of the frequency with which it has been sighted on the island".
Protests on blogs
Also on the blogs, Barbadians have been voicing concern about the matter.
One woman wrote: "This is ridiculous! Are we going to allow this American biologist, Blair Hedges, to walk in here and claim he has 'discovered' the smallest snake in the world, when this snake has been slithering around in the undergrowth since my childhood days? . . . How dare this man come in here and name a snake after his wife?"
A check of the 1990 edition of A-Z Of Barbadian Heritage by Henry Fraser, Sean Carrington, Addinton Forde and John Gilmore shows a picture on Page 167 of the snake partly encircling a Barbados cent.
The authors stated: "The 'blind snake', leptotyphlops bilineata, is seldom seen but is not uncommon. It was first reported from Barbados in 1963 by a keen naturalist, the late Rev E.J. Pearce, in lead litter at Codrington College.
"This snake belongs to a family of wormlike, secretive, burrowing snakes and is the smallest snake in the world, being known only from Barbados, St Lucia and Martinique . . . . The snake grows to 9 cm in length and is brown with two yellow stripes."
Back in 1995, well-known Barbadian historian Warren Alleyne wrote in his It So Happened column in the NATION: "A new variety was reportedly discovered in 1963. Brown, wormlike, and also non-venomous, this is said not to exceed 3 1/2 inches in length, and is thus believed to be the world's smallest snake."
However Hedges, who said he had been in herpetology for 30 years, said while the criticisms might be legitimate, "and the animal was known to be from Barbados before I named it, it was confused with another species from Martinique called leptotyphlops bilineata". His finding was that there was enough DNA evidence to differentiate it from the others.
The scientist said he was not looking for glory, and there was no financial reward in it for him on making his "discovery".
'No money'
"There is no prize or money in it. In fact, it's a lot of trouble because everyone is calling me saying they think they have a smaller snake [than mine]. However, it is nice to discover a new specimen; I just hope that it is protected. It is only on Barbados and if it disappears, we really would have lost that species."
Hedges said Barbados was already gaining significant mileage from the announcement.
"In the last few days, everybody has heard about Barbados on the web – with about 800 new stories.
"In addition, from a conservation perspective, it is good knowing that you have a rare animal. There are 3 100 species of snakes in the world, and this is the smallest. I hope it gets Bajans to realise that they have a species that is only known on that island."