A newly discovered chameleon less than an inch long could be the world s smallest reptile CNN 2/3/2021
It s known as
Brookesia nana, or nano-chameleon, and it s a blotchy brown lizard that usually doesn t surpass an inch in body length. Before 2012, biologists didn t know it existed.
But the researchers who discovered it are still stumped as to why it stays so small when most vertebrates grow in size as they mature.
Brookesia nana is different from any other vertebrate and other chameleon species. It can t change color, and it s more comfortable on the forest floor than in trees.
The unique chameleon is spotlighted in an article published last week in the journal Scientific Reports.
This ‘Nano-Chameleon’ As Small As Sunflower Seed May Be World’s Smallest Reptile
KEY POINTS
Researchers discovered a nano-chameleon that s so small it can fit on a fingertip
While it may possibly be the world s smallest reptile, its male species have relatively larger genitals
The species may be endangered already because of their degraded habitat
Researchers may have just found the smallest reptile in the world. The newly discovered nano-chameleon from Madagascar is so small it can fit on the tip of a finger.
In a recent
study published in the journal Scientific Reports, an international team of researchers reported discovering a tiny new chameleon species from a rainforest in northern Madagascar. This particular chameleon, now officially named the
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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.
World s Smallest Reptile Is a Chameleon About the Size of a Fingernail
On 2/1/21 at 12:27 PM EST
The chameleon, dubbed
Brookesia nana, was discovered living in the rainforests of the Sorata Massif in northern Madagascar, according to a study published in the journal
Scientific Reports.
The authors of the study found two specimens of the species: one adult male and one female. The male is smaller than the female, measuring just 13.5 millimeters (0.53 inches) long from the snout to the cloaca an orifice seen in many vertebrates into which the intestinal, urinary and genital tracts open.
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This makes it the smallest adult reptile of any sex, according to the authors of the study. In fact, the males are even smaller than another tiny reptile from the same genus (group of species) known as