Meet Adrian Borsboom: Ecologist finds a worm-like snake; 34 years later, no one found another

PC: Australian Geographic In 1992, Australian ecologist Adrian Borsboom lifted a rock near Warrill View, outside Brisbane, expecting little more than another routine wildlife find. Instead, he uncovered a tiny, pale-pink creature that looked remarkably like a worm. A closer inspection revealed smooth scales, a forked tongue and a distinctly unpleasant smell signs that this was no worm, but a blind snake unlike anything held at the Queensland Museum. The discovery became the first and only recorded sighting of the Fassifern blind snake. More than three decades later, scientists have searched for another, but the elusive reptile has never been found again, leaving its fate uncertain.The snake remained missing after years of searchingBlind snakes are notoriously difficult to locate, even when they are not particularly rare. Their underground lifestyle makes them elusive, and many are discovered accidentally rather than through targeted searches. Amey put it simply: “Blind snakes are very hard to survey for, deliberately. You generally find them when you’re looking for something else, especially ones that are so small.”The search for Borsboom's snake eventually became more deliberate. ...