Snake Expert Extending Peace Hand To Barbadians

Said snake is named Barbados Threadsnake

 

Photo credit – nationnews

My research on the Barbados Threadsnake was discussed in an article by Bryan Walker on August 8. I understand the reaction of Barbadians to the news reports, when the snake was known already on the island. But this is true of almost any new species of reptile – they are known by local residents.

The news reports were not clear, and caused much of this confusion. The thing that was discovered was not the presence of the snake on Barbados, but that it is an endemic species known nowhere else – this was new. The research article can be obtained freely at: www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/zt01841p030.pdf

Before, that snake was considered the same species as the one on Martinique and St Lucia, and therefore not so special. The discovery was made by sequencing its DNA and by studying it carefully in a laboratory.

News reports failed to mention that I named the snake the “Barbados Threadsnake” in my scientific article. The scientific name – which people rarely use – was dedicated to my wife who helped with the research. This is a normal practice in the field of science called taxonomy, to dedicate a scientific name after someone.

What about the size? Wasn’t it already the smallest? Because the species was confused, scientifically, the size was also confused. As it turns out, perhaps by chance, the new species defined on Barbados is even smaller than the one it was confused with previously, on Martinique.

Now, Barbados has a unique species, the Barbados Threadsnake, and one that is quite special because it is the smallest, unless someone finds a large specimen of it, or a smaller species elsewhere. It should be studied and protected.

In THE NATION article, Damon Corrie is quoted as saying that he showed me where to find the Threadsnake. That is not exactly true. He accompanied us on one day but there were no snakes at his places. The snakes came from a place that I found in the old literature, although he was present when one was collected and we enjoyed his company.

Finally, I must point out that there is a second very small snake on Barbados that is easy to confuse with the real Barbados Threadsnake. It is called the Flowerpot Blindsnake and is thin and black; it was introduced from Indonesia and is common in gardens and around houses (Bridgetown, and so on).

Most sightings of the “threadsnake” are probably of this different species.

– BLAIR HEDGES

State College, Pennsylvania.

Source – Nation News

PM Thompson Drops In On Obama’s Convention In Denver

The only high-ranking Caribbean official invited

 

Barbados Prime Minister, David Thompson was among the estimated 85 000 persons on location last night for the historic crowning of Barack Obama as the Democratic Party’s Presidential Candidate.

Mr. Thompson arrived in Denver, Colorado on Wednesday evening as a guest of key operatives in the Obama campaign. His visit to the mile high city is believed to have been engineered by Political Advisor Hartley Henry who is rumoured to be a part of an international advisory team to the Obama campaign.

Henry has been in Denver for the past two weeks and is said to be working very closely with the messaging arm of the campaign.

Contacted last evening at the Invesco Field in Denver, where Obama delivered his historic acceptance speech, Henry confirmed that Prime Minister Thompson was in attendance and that he had a full day of meetings with some very high ranking senate and congressional officials.

Henry said: Prime Minister Thompson was the toast of a reception held in his honour. Though this was the busiest day of the convention, high ranking members of the Democratic Party dropped by for informal talks with the Prime Minister.Among those with whom the Barbados Leader met were Majority Whip James Clyburn, Charles Rangel, Harold Forde and a host of incumbent senators, prominent businessmen and lobbyists.

Issues discussed ranged from extension of the Caribbean Basin Initiative to Prime Minister Thompson’s request for tangible technical assistance to the region in the area of coastal security and drug interdiction. Several prominent US business executives also seized the opportunity to enquire of investment opportunities in Barbados. Among them billionaire property developer, Bob Johnson.

Mr. Thompson is believed to have been the only high ranking Caribbean official invited to witness the historic first embrace of an African-American as Presidential candidate for a leading political party.

Significantly, the Prime Minister witnessed the closing of the convention and national embrace of Barack Obama from the celebrity box which was set aside for close friends and relatives of the campaign leadership.

Source – Barbados Advocate

Bob Johnson Black Entertainment Television [BET] founder turned property developer became the first African- American billionaire when he sold BET media empire for $3b to media giant Viacom in 2000. In 2002 he became the first African-America to wholly own a professional sports team when he brought the NBA franchise in Charlotte. His real estate investment company RLJ lists revenues of $92m. An $8m 85-room four-start resort opens in 2009 in Liberia.

Sources – allbusiness.com, usatoday.com, chf international