American scientists in Madagascar have recently rediscovered a rare species - a blind pink snake which was last seen over a century ago.

The specie, named Xenotyphlops mocquardi, resembles a long intestinal parasite; its kind was last documented in 1905 in the same locale. Van Wallach, Harvard's blind snake expert, is not surprised at all that it took such a long time for a new sighting to occur. He says "they're really rare because they're subterranean, you can't just go out anytime you want and collect these things. You can dig forever and never find them."

The latest specimen was captured alive in a gathering trip for reptiles and amphibians in the island. The snake is 10 inches long and has the girth of a pencil. Nobody thought the snake was special until it was sent to Wallach for identification and comparison.

"It was just routine field work," says Vicenzo Mercurio, a scientist in the expedition that discovered the blind snake. Wallach, for his part, excitedly remarked "they sent it to me and I immediately recognized what it was."

Scientists say that there are 15 distinct species of blind snakes in the island. They often have underdeveloped eyes and hunt insects with their smell. They usually feed on ants and their larvae and pupae. Blind snakes are related to worm snakes, which they bear closely resemble. These two species are negatively phototaxic, which means they abhor light and seek shelter in holes or under rocks whenever possible.

Biologists theorize that worm snakes and blind snakes descended from a common ancestral species which lived during the age of the dinosaurs.