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| Fly-Sized Frog |
 The world’s smallest known vertebrate is a frog the size of a housefly, a new study says.At an average of 7.7 millimetres long, the newfound Paedophryne amauensis is a hair smaller than the previous record holder, the Southeast Asian fish species Paedocypris progenetica, whose females measure about 7.9 millimetres. During recent field surveys in southern Papua New Guinea, scientists found P. amauensis and another new species of tiny frog, Paedophryne swiftorum, which measures about 8.6 millimetres.
The frogs are so small it’s hard to see their earth-coloured skin patterns with the naked eye, so scientists took pictures and then zoomed in using a digital camera like a microscope. |