New chameleon species may be world’s smallest reptile
Jason Bittel
A female
Brookesia nana chameleon in Madagascar. The species is likely the smallest reptile on Earth.
Scientists have discovered a tiny new species of chameleon in a patch of rainforest in northern Madagascar. This so-called nano-chameleon is about the size of a sunflower seed, fits on the tip of a finger, and may be the smallest reptile on Earth.
Officially known as
Brookesia nana, or
B. nana for short, the new species is so tiny it’s thought to survive on a diet of mites and springtails, which it hunts down in leaf litter.