The world’s smallest known vertebrate is this frog

The Brazilian flea toad's head is too small to bear many crowns.

Living things (Brachycephalus purex) is neither a flea nor a toad. Instead, the big new addition is he's a small frog with two.has just been named World's smallest known amphibian and smallest known vertebrate.

The length of one adult from snout to rump was just under 6.5 millimeters. It's about a quarter inch. It's small enough to fit comfortably on your little finger nail. And that's about half a millimeter below the previous record.

The research team reported this mini-os on February 7th. Zoologica Scripter.

Mirco Sole is a herpetologist at the University of Santa Cruz in Ilheus, Brazil. He is part of a team that studied 46 adult Brazilian flea toads (24 males and 22 females). On average, males are about 7 millimeters (0.27 inches) long. Females are approximately 8 millimeters (0.31 inches) long.Previously, the smallest known vertebrate was Phaedophryn amanuensis A frog from Papua New Guinea. Males of this species average approximately 8 millimeters (0.31 inches) in length.

This small frog has some major changes to its body compared to larger species. For example, the Brazilian flea frog has only two toes on its feet. Most frogs have five legs, Solé points out.and other small things brachycephalic animal Frogs have strangely shaped internal auditory tubes. That feature makes jumpers clumsy. Solé said the ears of the Brazilian flea toad have not been tested. But these animals seem to be decent hoppers, he notes.

There are likely even smaller vertebrates that have yet to be discovered, Solé said. After all, there are many unexplored corners of the earth. If such an organism is discovered, a new ecology related to body size may be revealed.

Anything smaller than about 6 millimeters in length “will pose major challenges to morphology and physics,” he says. “But no one knows.”