For nearly two decades, no one had spotted the world’s smallest-known snake. Some scientists worried that maybe the Barbados threadsnake had become extinct, but one sunny morning, Connor Blades lifted a rock in a tiny forest in the eastern Caribbean island and held his breath.

The Barbados threadsnake, the world's smallest snake, has been rediscovered after vanishing for nearly two decades, sparking hope for conservation eff

The Barbados threadsnake was among 4,800 species of plants, animals and fungi once believed to be lost to science.