Smallest Lizard A juvenile Brookesia micra is barely bigger than a match head.
This little chameleon is one of four miniature lizards identified in Madagascar, adding to our growing list of amazingly teeny animals. The one on the match in this picture is a juvenile, but even the adults max out at 30 millimeters. They're the smallest lizards in the world, and some of the smallest vertebrates found to date.
The Lilliputian lizard is near the lower limits of size in vertebrate animals. Learning about how these creatures live can put some constraints on animal morphology — if your species has eyes, a backbone and a brain, there’s likely a limit to how little you can get. A different group of field biologists just announced the world’s smallest frog, and they claim it is the smallest vertebrate in the world, knocking a tiny Indonesian fish off the pedestal of puniness.
The chameleons are related to other Madagascan lizards, but DNA analysis showed they have enough genetic differences to count as distinct species, according to the researchers who found them, led by Frank Glaw of the Zoological State Collection of Munich. The animals live in leafy undergrowth in Madagascan forests.
Tiny and camouflaged — how did they find these guys? Most of the lizards were collected at night, when they typically climb up into the underbrush to roost. The field biologists used torches and headlamps to spot the sleeping lizards, according to their paper.
Ohmygoodness those chameleon's are so freaking cute. I want one and they're so tiny you could take them everywhere you go and no one would even know. They kind of look like baby dinosaurs. I'm in love.
ReplyDeleteAwhhhh they are so cute! I love teeny tiny animals. I wonder if there's a lot of them in Madagascar. That's so weird how small they are.
ReplyDeleteI hope the researcher didn't burn any of the lizards when using the torches. What made them search for the lizards in the first place? I wonder what it feels like to discover a small lizard.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, they are absolutely ADORABLE! Goodness, they are cute. My thought is, did researchers end up killing a few of them do to their such range in size. I mean, how could you not end up killing it on accident?
ReplyDeleteThe smallest chameleon in the world? Must be weird finding one on your body or something. I like how scientist keep finding and discovering new creatures/animals. Madagascar seems like the place where the possibilities are endless for a scientist.
ReplyDeleteThey are so cute! You could literally just stick on of those things in your pocket! It's crazy that they were able to find such a small organism and were able to do tests on it and stuff to find out more about them! They seem pretty cool, I wouldn't mind having one as a pet!
ReplyDeleteI think they are adorable, but it would be hard to do anything with them without crushing it. I think its cool how scientist are constantly finding new animals and plants all the time.
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute!!! I have never heard of any type of small animal. It seems like they would be very challenging to find, even with torches and all. They seem easy to kill so I wonder how the scientists are careful enough to not accidentally kill them.
ReplyDeleteThese lizards are so cute! I bet they were very hard to find even with the lights and torches because they are so small and camouflaged. I wonder how many of these lizards are actually in Madagascar. I would think these lizards being small would be an advantage and disadvantage. They could easily hide but also easily be killed.
ReplyDeletethese are so adorable, just like every other girl is saying. but i have no idea how i would be able to see them without stepping on them, or see them alone. I think it is really cool that such small animals like these lizards have made it this long without being killed or becoming extinct.
ReplyDeleteThose are so cute! How did they even think of finding them? Did they kill any by stepping on them? How did they see such a small organism if for one they are so small and dark with limited light?
ReplyDeleteSo its weird that something this small exists I mean it looks like a super mini chameleon. If I saw this in the wild I would probably just assume its a bug and move on, not a tiny lizard. This just goes to show you how much we don't know about our world yet.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think about what other tiny creatures may exist in this world, within our own biome even, that have not been documented and classified. I wouldn't be surprised to see a vast multitude of other extraordinary animals be discovered in the future as the field of zoology expands and improves.
ReplyDeleteWhat does it eat? omg its so smallll!!! I want one! so what does it eat. my cat would probably eat it though.
ReplyDeleteThey are so adorable. I want one but I'm pretty sure my dog would eat it. Or I would step on it. That would be awful.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I love how we are still finding new animals and getting a better perspective of our world! It's hard to believe that we have been on Earth for so long and we are still learning new things about a place we claim to know everything about. I hope to see more discoveries like this in the future. Hopefully soon we can start to learn more not just about organisms on land, but also marine life!
ReplyDeleteThey're so adorable. I find it interesting how unique animals can be. I also love the fact we're still finding new organisms still to this day. But these lizards are adorable.
ReplyDeleteI want to know what exactly they were looking for when they found these chameleons. I mean they're so tiny if I just glanced at one I wouldn't even think that it was a lizard at all. I also wonder what kinds of things they would eat, seeing as many of the other organisms there are probably bigger than it.
ReplyDeleteWho wouldn't want to own one of these little guys? I want a hundred of them so I can train them to work for me in the circus. My only fear would be losing it in my pockets or something.
ReplyDeleteThis is so adorable. I cant believe how tiny it is. How did they even find it? I so wish I could have a pet like that, people would be jelly; cause I wouldn't have to buy much food and of how cute it is.
ReplyDeleteHow did they find them? I wouldn't never even notice them. I would probably step on one accident. Imma leave them alone.
ReplyDeleteThese things would end up being stepped on by me. What is the reason for having one that size? They might as well just live with the ants!
ReplyDeleteIts a really awesome unqie anima. It size is quite really unique.where did they originated from?what does it eat?
ReplyDeleteOmg! I want one there so cute & litle. I wonder what they eat there so tiny its unabelieveable. I wonder what other little things exist that we aren't able to see.
ReplyDeleteI find this pretty interesting. I have always liked lizards and had no idea they could be this small. I wonder why they evolved to be this size because most lizards eat large bugs. I kind of want one.
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