Found in the rainforests of northern Madagascar is the Brookesia nana, the world’s smallest reptile. Scientists say that the fully grown male only measures half an inch from its snout to cloaca, which makes it the smallest adult reptile ever described.
In fact, the male B. nana measured even smaller than his female counterpart, which had a length of 0.75 inches (19.2 mm) from snout to cloaca. (Not only is she longer than her mate, but she is also slightly longer than the Caribbean gecko Sphaerodactylus ariasae, which currently holds the title for smallest female reptile, the researchers wrote.)
"Given that the general body plan of reptiles is rather similar to that of mammals and humans, it is fascinating to see how miniaturized these organisms and their organs can get," lead study author Frank Glaw, a herpetologist at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich, told Live Science in an email.
Learn more about this over at Live Science.
Now this is cute!
(Image Credit: Frank Glaw/ Live Science)
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I prefer the normal-sized ones. These little guys keep falling through the grill on my barbecue.
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If you're going to measure a B. nana, you should include a banana for scale.
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i believe u
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