The Brazilian flea toad is a tiny amphibian with a head too small for its many crowns. Researchers at the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz in Ilhéus, Brazil, discovered this diminutive male amphibian among 46 adult Brazilian flea toads. The males measure about 7 millimeters long on average, while the females measure about 8 millimeters. This makes them even smaller than their predecessor, the male Paedophryne amauensis frogs from Papua New Guinea, which average about 8 millimeters long.
These tiny frogs have unique features compared to their larger counterparts. For example, Brazilian flea toad feet have only two toes instead of the typical five. Some other small Brachycephalus frogs have oddly shaped inner ear tubes, making them clumsy jumpers. Although the Brazilian flea toad ears have not been tested, the animals seem to be decent hoppers.
According to Solé, with many of Earth’s nooks and crannies still unexplored, there are likely even tinier vertebrates waiting to be discovered. He believes that anything smaller than about six millimeters long would really challenge morphology and physics, but who knows what else is out there.
2024-02-27 10:45:00
Link from www.sciencenews.org