Top 10 Smallest Animals In The World

World’s Most Amazingly Small Vertebrae

Let’s meet the world’s smallest chameleon which is just 29 millimeters long, or the tiniest frog, which is just 7.7 millimeters long.

Size doesn’t matter? Think again! But this time, think of things from a tiny animal’s perspective. Everything around them is a potential threat, so the fact that they manage to survive is indeed amazing. All of the amazing animals you are going to see are living proof that good things come in small packages. One of the smallest vertebrate in the world is just 7.7 millimeters in length, imagine that!

And that’s not all, imagine a chameleon as as big as half your nail. Nature really is amazing and we should do our best to preserve it just the way it is, or else, our grandchildren will read about tiny creatures that once existed on Earth, instead of actually being able to see the wonders of nature.

1. Smallest Dog In The World:

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Meet Lucy, a mini Yorkshire terrier, who is just six inches long, 5.7 inches high and weighs a mere 2.5 pounds. And even if she’s so tiny and small, she has a very big heart and loves to bring joy to people around her. Lucy and her owner, Sally Leone, spend their spare time visiting nursing homes and hospitals in order to ease their pain and suffering.

Lucy has a sad story to tell, she was abandoned on the side of the road and then picked up by an Animal Control team who were going to send her to a shelter. Luckily, she was adopted, and after making sure she was in good health, Lucy was trained to be a therapy dog. “She had to be trained to sit for long periods, lay for long periods, not be flustered when there’s wheelchairs and walkers all around,” her owner told the Guinness Book of World Records. This tiny doggy brings enormous joy to others, still think that size matters?

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2. Worlds Smallest Cat

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Say hello to Mr. Pebbles, the tiniest cat in the world. How big is this feline? Well, he can fit in a cup, and he can do that because he’s 15.5 cm (6.1-inch) high and 49 cm (19.2-inch) long, and weighs about three pounds. You can visit Mr. Pebbles in Illinois where he likes to play and purr all day long.

3. Pygmy Jerboa – World’s smallest rodent:

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This amazing little fellow is called a Pygmy Jerboa. This species is the smallest type of rodents in the world. There’s an old saying that goes something like this: some people simply don’t like tiny, adorable rodents, and those people are called terrorists… How could anyone resist hugging this little fur-ball? well if you can’t resist, you should, cause they’re extremely small!

And despite their size, these lil’ creatures can run with a speed of 15 miles per hour if they are being chase, all that speed thanks to their kangaroo-like anatomy. Their back legs are longer than the front ones, and they use their tail for balance.

Have a look below and see just how cute they are!

4. World’s Smallest Snake

Do you have an incontrollable fear of snakes? Well, they are indeed creepy, but just have a look at this guy over here, does he look frightening? This snake was dubbed Leptotyphlops carlae and it holds the record for the smallest species of snakes in the world, only 4 inches long (10 cm)… and there are over 3,100 known snake species of snakes. Pretty impressive, isn’t it?

The female will lay just one single egg in her life, and the babies hatch at half of their adult size.

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5. World’s Smallest Monkey: Pygmy Marmoset

This tiny species of primates lives in Ecuador, eastern Peru, and northern Bolivia, and their length ranges from 14 to 16 centimetres (5.5 to 6.3 in) including their tail, and they weigh a mere 120 grams (4.2 oz).

And now let’s move on to the smallest of the smallest:

6. World’s Smallest Seahorse

This amazingly small seahorse is known as Hippocampus denise, and it is just 16 millimetres long. You can try to spot them 90 meters under water, in the Pacific Ocean.

7. World’s Smallest Lizard

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This tiny reptile was discovered in the Caribbean island off the coast of the Dominican Republic. It was named “Sphaerodactylus ariasae” and it is only about 16 millimeters long, that means its not even an inch long, and that includes its tail.

8. World’s smallest fish: Paedocypris progenetica

This almost invisible fishy is just 7.9 mm (0.3-inch) long and it was discovered in Sumatra. It has a see-through body and it is very fragile, due to its rudimentary head which leaves the brain exposed. Unfortunately, they are at risk of extinction due to the fact that of Indonesian peat swamps are destroyed for oil palm plantations.

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9. World’s Smallest Chameleon

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Stealth level: invisibility This little critter is called Brookesia micra and you can find him in Madagascar, or better said, he lives there, cause it’s gonna be pretty hard to find. At 29mm long, he should have absolutely no problem going unnoticed.

And now ladies and gents, let us introduce the smallest land vertebrae in the world: drum rolls please…

10. World’s Tiniest Frog:

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The discovery of this new species is pretty big, even if the frog itself isn’t. This tiny living being is only 7,7 millimeters long and it stole the crown from the Paedocypris progenetica, the tiny fish we talked about. Scientists named their discovery Paedophryne amauensis, which is now the smallest vertebrae in the world.

The frog is found in New Guinea and its discoverer declared that: “It was particularly difficult to locate Paedophryne amauensis due to its diminutive size and the males’ high pitched insect-like mating call. But it’s a great find. New Guinea is a hotspot of biodiversity, and everything new we discover there adds another layer to our overall understanding of how biodiversity is generated and maintained.”


Written with love and coolness by on March 19, 2013 in Amazing Stuff
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