BERLIN (AP): It fits the tip of a human finger, but this chameleon could cause a big touch.
Scientists in Madagascar and Germany say a recently discovered species of chameleon is a candidate for the title of smallest reptile in the world.
Frank Glaw, who was part of the international team of researchers who classified the new species and named it the dwarf Brookesia, said the body of the male specimen appeared to be only 13.5 millimeters long (a just over 1/2 inch). )
This is at least 1.5 millimeters smaller than the previous record holder, another member of the Brookesia family.
Glaw, a reptile expert at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich, said a local guide saw the small male and slightly larger female on the edge of the mountain during a 2012 expedition.
“You really have to get on your knees to find them,” Glaw told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday. “Obviously they’re camouflaged and moving very slowly.”
Glaw and his colleagues performed a computed tomography of the female and found that it housed two eggs, confirming that she was an adult.
For the male, the researchers closely examined his “well-developed” genitals, which in chameleons come in pairs known as hemipenes.
They found that the genitals of the dwarf Brookesia specimen were almost one-fifth of its body size, possibly to allow it to mate with the larger female.
“I have little doubt that he is an adult male,” Glaw said. “If we had a couple of pairings, it would obviously be a better test.”
Confirmation of Brookesia dwarf as the smallest reptile species will require finding more, which may take several years, he said.
The team’s research was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Chameleons are threatened by deforestation in Madagascar, home to many species.
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Watch video of the chameleon