According to scientists, they have discovered a subspecies of chameleon the size of sunflower seed that is possibly the smallest reptile on earth.
Two of the miniature lizards, one male and one female, were discovered by a German-Madagascar expedition team in northern Madagascar.
The male Brookesia nana, or nano-discolored male, has a body that is only 13.5 mm (0.53 inches) long, making it the smallest of all the approximately 11,500 known species of reptiles, according to the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology. Munich said. The total length from nose to tail is just under 22 mm (0.87 inches).
The female nano-chameleon is significantly larger, with an overall length of 29 mm, the research institute said, adding that the scientists could not find “further specimens of the new subspecies” despite great effort.
The closest relative of the species is the slightly larger Brookesia micra, the discovery of which was announced in 2012.
Scientists assume that the habitat of the lizard is small, as is the case with similar subspecies.
“The habitat of the nano-chameleon has unfortunately been disrupted, but the area has recently been placed under protection so that the species will survive,” Oliver Hawlitschek, a scientist at the Center of Natural History in Hamburg, said in a statement.