World’s Smallest Frog
12:41 pm in News
Research scientists have discovered the world’s smallest frog!
This frog called the Paedophryne amauensis has been classified as the world’s tiniest vertebrae. Not only can it sit on your pinky, it is smaller than a dime! hHerpetologist and environmental biologist Christopher Austin discovered the species during his studies in Papa New Guinea.
Oddly enough, the males don’t have stomachs and live as parasites on 1.8-inch (4.57-centimeter)-long females.
Steven J. Beaupre, a University of Arkansas scientist and president-elect of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, said many vertebrates have males and females of very different sizes, “so it is reasonable that the world’s smallest vertebrate may end up being either the males or the females of some specific fish or amphibian species.”
“We found it by grabbing a whole handful of leaf litter and putting it into a clear plastic bag and very, very slowly going through that litter leaf by leaf by leaf until we saw that small frog hop off one of those leaves,” said Eric Rittmeyer who was doing habitat collections alongside Austin.
