There has always been a certain mystical aura that surrounds the island of Madagascar; land of Baobabs, home to the playful Lemurs, a land so genetically diverse that it is constantly studied in the hope of discovering a new species or sub-species. This was exactly what happened in 2012, when Herpetologist Frank Glaw, and his team of German scientists discovered a tiny chameleon that they named Brookesia Nana. After 8 years of study and research, in 2020, they officially declared the tiny chameleon as the smallest reptile in the World.
At an average size 25.4 mm in length (the female is bigger than the male) it can sit comfortably on your thumb. It cannot change colour, like its cousins and lives on the rain forest floor as opposed to in the trees. These tiny creatures eat mites with their long projectile tongue by day and hide in the safety of the grass by night.
Scientists also found that the male species is very typically “male” having testicles that are 18% of its body or the same size as his head!
