World's Smallest Vertebrate Discovered - Tiny Little Frog!

Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.
~Mark Twain

Discovered in Papua New Guinea, a new species is the smallest vertabrate ever found. It is a tiny frog, 7.7 mm long (less than 1/3"). The scientific name of the small frog is Paedophryne amauensis, but surely they will come up with something cuter eventually. I think a good name would be "porange" (rhymes with orange).

The creature lives in the leaf debris on the floors of wet forests. They make noise early in the morning and late in the evening. They sound similar to crickets. Paedophryne amauensis are born as frogs and do not have a tadpole stage. They can leap 30x their length.



The frogs, tiny or not,are a significant discovery. They indicate, one hopes, that extinction of tropical amphibians is not as dire as recent news might indicate. This is an entirely new species of frog.

Note: Extreme size, whether small or large, allows scientists to study the constraints that come with size.

Something else I learned: An ichthyologist studies the fish branch of zoology.