• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Meet the world's smallest frogs

Status
Not open for further replies.

Gaborn

Member
ZooKeys-154-071-g002.jpg


(A) Paedophryne dekot, (B) Paedophryne dekot, (C) Paedophryne verrucosa, (D) Paedophryne verrucosa (Image: Freed Kraus)

These frogs are, by a whisker, the smallest in the world. Adults of the two new species - Paedophryne dekot and Paedophryne verrucosa - are just 8-9 millimetres in length. That makes these diminutive amphibians from Papua New Guinea marginally smaller than 10-millimetre-long frogs found in Cuba and Brazil.

But there's a bigger crown at stake. Frogs are amphibians, but they also belong to a much larger group of animals called tetrapods, which evolved from fish about 380 million years ago. All four-legged animals with a backbone are tetrapods - as are some animals like whales that have lost their legs through evolution. It's likely that these new frogs are the smallest tetrapods living today, says their discover, Fred Kraus from Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. That is, until a 7-mm-long frog turns up.

Journal reference: ZooKeys, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.48.446

Story Here
 

Wool

Member
Anybody ever see that Planet Earth episode with all of the frogs in the rainforest at night? It's nightmare fuel. I bet these tiny frogs could fit in your ear canal real nicely.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom