{"id":4130,"date":"2024-03-19T10:50:41","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T10:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/19\/this-frog-is-the-worlds-smallest-known-vertebrate\/"},"modified":"2024-03-19T10:50:41","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T10:50:41","slug":"this-frog-is-the-worlds-smallest-known-vertebrate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/19\/this-frog-is-the-worlds-smallest-known-vertebrate\/","title":{"rendered":"This frog is the world\u2019s smallest known vertebrate"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"592\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@2x.png?resize=592,240&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"This frog is the world\u2019s smallest known vertebrate\" title=\"This frog is the world\u2019s smallest known vertebrate\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"rich-text rich-text--with-sidebar single__rich-text___DT62t\" data-component=\"video-embed\">\n<p>A Brazilian flea toad\u2019s head is too tiny to bear its many crowns.<\/p>\n<p>The critter (<em>Brachycephalus pulex<\/em>) is neither a flea nor a toad. Instead, it\u2019s a wee frog with two big new titles. It\u2019s just been named <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/epdf\/10.1111\/zsc.12654\" rel=\"noopener\">the world\u2019s smallest known amphibian and the smallest known vertebrate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-sciencenews-inline-related-post alignleft\">\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/lets-learn-about-frogs\">Let\u2019s learn about frogs<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/aside>\n<p>From snout to rump, one adult measured just under 6.5 millimeters. That\u2019s about a quarter of an inch. It\u2019s small enough to sit comfortably on a pinkie fingernail. And it sneaks under the previous record by about half a millimeter.<\/p>\n<p>A team reported this mini male February 7 in <em>Zoologica Scripta<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Mirco Sol\u00e9 is a herpetologist at the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz in Ilh\u00e9us, Brazil. He\u2019s part of a team that studied 46 adult Brazilian flea toads \u2014 24 males and 22 females. On average, males measure about 7 millimeters (0.27 inch) long. Females measure about 8 millimeters (0.31 inch). Before, the smallest known vertebrate was the\u00a0<em>Paedophryne amanuensis<\/em> frog from Papua New Guinea. Males of that species average about 8 millimeters (0.31 inch) long.<\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n.cheat-sheet-cta {\n  border: 1px solid #ffffff;\n  margin-top: 20px;\n  background-image: url(\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cta-module@2x-2048x239-1.png\");\n  padding: 10px;\n  clear: both;\n}\n]]><\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group cheat-sheet-cta is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Do you have a science question? We can help!<\/h2>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/YbhPosFTMqjbSNnV7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Submit your question here<\/a>, and we might answer it an upcoming issue of\u00a0<em>Science News Explores<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Frogs this teeny have some big changes to their bodies compared with larger species. For instance, the foot of a Brazilian flea toad has just two toes. Most frog feet have five, Sol\u00e9 notes. And some other small <em>Brachycephalus <\/em>frogs have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/pumpkin-toadlets-jump-clumsy-ear-canal-brachycephalus\">oddly shaped inner ear tubes<\/a>. That feature makes them clumsy jumpers. Brazilian flea toad ears haven\u2019t been tested, Sol\u00e9 says. But, he notes, these animals do seem to be decent hoppers.<\/p>\n<p>There are likely even tinier vertebrates not yet discovered, Sol\u00e9 says. After all, Earth has lots of unexplored nooks and crannies. If found, such creatures might reveal new biology related to body size.<\/p>\n<p>Anything smaller than about six millimeters long \u201cwould really challenge morphology and physics,\u201d he says. \u201cBut who knows.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"newsletter-signup__wrapper___lZ0W1 wp-block-house-ads wp-block-newsletter-signup\">\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@1x.png 1x,&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@2x.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@1x.png 1x,&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@2x.png 2x\"><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup__container___srNOL\" data-component=\"newsletter-signup\">\n<h3 class=\"newsletter-signup__heading___0EHmb\">\n\t\t\tEducators and Parents, Sign Up for The Cheat Sheet\t\t<\/h3>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup__message___pemaq\">\n<p>Weekly updates to help you use <em>Science News Explores<\/em> in the learning environment<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"newsletter-signup__thankyou___K6GGN\">Thank you for signing up!<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-signup__error___hCsJI\">There was a problem signing you up.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p> <!-- \/.rich-text --><\/p>\n<footer class=\"article-footer__wrapper___eChRS article-footer__with-sidebar___9oDuK\">\n<section class=\"article-footer__power-words___V5fm0\" id=\"power-words\" data-component=\"print-power-words\">\n<header class=\"article-footer__pw-header___cii2S\">\n<h3 class=\"article-footer__pw-heading___-GYtA\">\n\t\t\t\t\tPower Words\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<a class=\"article-footer__pw-about___D7W9R\" href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/power-words-aid-stem-literacy\/\">More About Power Words<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"article-footer__print-power-words-btn___NnOdr print-power-words-btn\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/header>\n<div class=\"power-words-container\">\n<p><strong>average<\/strong>: (in science) A term for the arithmetic mean, which is the sum of a group of numbers that is then divided by the size of the group.<\/p>\n<p><strong>biology<\/strong>: The study of living things. The scientists who study them are known as biologists.<\/p>\n<p><strong>herpetologist<\/strong>: A scientist who works on the biology of reptiles and amphibians.<\/p>\n<p><strong>species<\/strong>: A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"author-bio__wrapper___DO1-G\">\n<figure class=\"author-bio__figure___ncr9i\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"author-bio__thumbnail___y-O2-\" href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/author\/erin-garcia-de-jesus\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"214\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/e_garcia-de-jesus-214x214.jpg\" class=\"attachment-avatar size-avatar\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n<div class=\"author-bio__content___ZFx0n\">\n<div class=\"author-bio__bio___QBxoy\">\n<p>Erin I. Garcia de Jes\u00fas is a staff writer at <i>Science News<\/i>. She holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Washington and a master\u2019s in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Brazilian flea toad\u2019s head is too tiny to bear its many crowns. The critter (Brachycephalus pulex) is neither a flea nor a toad. Instead, it\u2019s a wee frog with two big new titles. It\u2019s just been named the world\u2019s smallest known amphibian and the smallest known vertebrate. Let\u2019s learn about frogs From snout to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@2x.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[7193,7194,7195,2306],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4130"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4132,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4130\/revisions\/4132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}