Scientists made a thrilling discovery when they found a tiny new subspecies of chameleon while on an expedition in one of Africa’s countries. This teeny weeny reptile is the size of a sunflower seed, and it could very well be the smallest reptile to walk the earth considering that its entire body fits quite easily on a human fingertip.
It was while a German-Madagascan expedition team was in northern Madagascar when they came upon two miniature lizards. The male, which is called Brookesia nana or nano-chameleon, has a body that measures just 13.5 mm or 0.53 inches in length. According to the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich, this makes it the smallest of the estimated 11,500 know species of reptiles on the planet. Moreover, from nose to tail, the total length of this miniature chameleon is a little less than 22 mm or 0.87 inches.
Surprisingly, the female nano-chameleon is actually substantially bigger, measuring 29 mm in overall length according to the research institute. The scientists also shared that they were unable to find more specimens of this new subspecies “despite great effort” on their part.
Before this brand new discovery, the reptile that held the record for being tiniest in size was another related species called the B. Tuberculata, which are half a millimeter bigger than the nano-chameleon. And scientists made sure to perform a few tests on these nano-chameleons to make sure that they were indeed, full grown.
The researchers actually performed micro CT scans on the female reptile, which managed to find at least two eggs inside of her indicating that she was a mature reptile. Meanwhile, the male was also believed to be sexually mature since his genitals were considered fully developed as well. Oddly enough, it was also notable that the male’s genitals were actually almost 20 percent of his entire body size, which meant that they were not small at all compared to the rest of his body of course.
Researchers also share that it is quite a mystery as to why this species is so miniscule, which is why their discovery has raised tons of questions about the reptile’s family tree and origins.
Another author of the study, Jörn Köhler, explains, “The closest relative of the new chameleon is also not the similarly tiny Brookesia Micra, but instead the nearly twice as large B. karchei, which occurs in the same mountains. That shows that this extreme miniaturization has arisen convergently in these chameleons.”
They also explained that this new species’ closest relative is the Brookesia micra, which is said to measure only slighter bigger than this new nano species, whose discovery was disclosed sometime back in 2012.
Given their size, the scientists also speculate that this tiny lizard’s habitat is quite small, which is the same case for other such analogous subspecies.
Oliver Hawlitschek, a scientist from the Center of Natural History in Hamburg shared in a statement, “Unfortunately, the habitat of the Nano-Chameleon is under heavy pressure from deforestation, but the area has recently been designated as a protected area, and hopefully that will enable this tiny new chameleon to survive,”
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