everybody likes charismatic microfauna

hot on the heels of groggily creeping forward after the discovery of a new microfrog, glaw, köhler, townsend, and vencesa discover new clade of microchameleons. behold! Brookesia micra:



bigger picture

as the discoverers say,

The newly described Brookesia micra reaches a maximum snout-vent length in males of 16 mm, and its total length in both sexes is less than 30 mm, ranking it among the smallest amniote [egg-laying] vertebrates in the world. With a distribution limited to a very small islet, this species may represent an extreme case of island dwarfism.

it's a curious demonstration of evolution in action.