World’s smallest Chameleon discovered by scientists

Researchers in the jungles of Madagascar discovered four new species of leaf chameleons who are now the world’s tiniest reptiles. The adults of this species are just over an inch from their snouts to their tails.

These species belong to the genus Brookesia which already has many small species that look a lot like the juveniles of larger species. However, a tinier dwarf gecko is found in the British Virgin Islands.

All these leaf chameleons look similar which means that the researchers had to use the genetic analysis technique to determine the species. The results were then published in the PloS ONE journal on February 14, 2012.

The Brookesia species live within a very small habitat and half of the members of this particular genus are found in one location which the smallest of the newly found species which researchers have named Brookesia micra, live in the small island of Nosy
Hara.

Such extreme miniaturization is common in island population, and the phenomenon is known as island dwarfism, which generally occurs due to limited resources and the pressure to reproduce.

Frank Glaw, a herpetologist and lead author of the study, states that the extreme miniaturization of these dwarf reptiles might be accompanied by numerous specializations of the body plan, and this constitutes a promising field for future research. It’s
urgent to focus conservation efforts on these and other microendemic species in Madagascar, before they disappear since they are heavily threatened by deforestation.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=12963

Posted by Taimoor Tariq on Feb 16 2012. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry