1. Stunning Photos
Number Four
Small is Beautiful
The smallest animals on the planet

2. Kitti's Hog-Nosed Bat
Also known as the bumblebee bat, it is found in Thailand. When fully grown, it
reaches just over an inch long with a 5" wingspan. It weighs about the same as
a 10p coin. It is recognized as the smallest known mammal when measured by
skull size, competing with the Etruscan shrew when compared by mass

3. Bee Hummingbird
Native to Cuba, it is about 2 1/2" inches long and weighs about
the same as a 5p coin. They can flap their wings over 100x per
minute and unsurprisingly also lay the world's smallest eggs

4. Chihuahua
Chihuahuas are generally recognized as the world's smallest dog
breed, but Boo Boo takes the cake. Standing just under 4" tall, Boo
Boo is the smallest living dog in the world according to the Guinness
Book of Records as of 2013

5. Pygmy Marmoset Monkey
Native to the Amazon rainforest, pygmy marmoset monkeys grow
only to about 6" in size, excluding their tail. They are also known
colloquially in Brazil as mono de bolsillos, or "pocket monkeys”

6. Paedocypris Fish
Found in Southeast Asia, they grow to about 1/3 of an inch and are
known for their ability to live in water with high levels of acidity

7. Brookesia Micra Chameleon
Brookesia micra is the smallest species of chameleon and lives on the islet of
Nosy Hara in Antsiranana, Madagascar. It is an evolutionary "victim" of insular
dwarfism and might soon be a victim of extinction too due to illegal logging in
Madagascar's forests

8. Royal Antelope
Despite its misleading name, the royal antelope is the smallest of all
antelopes. Growing only to 9-10" and weighing in at a meagre 9-10 pounds,
they live in the dense undergrowth of forests in West Africa and are nocturnal
and extremely shy

9. Virgin Islands Dwarf Gecko
The Virgin Islands dwarf gecko is not only the smallest of all lizards,
but also the second smallest of all known terrestrial vertebrates.
When fully grown, it can rest its whole body on a 5p coin

10. Etruscan Shrew
The Etruscan shrew is the smallest known mammal by mass, competing with the
bumblebee bat when compared by skull size. Found throughout Eurasia and
possibly even Africa, they have a very fast heart beating rate, up to 1511 beats/min
(25 beats/s), which means they need to eat A LOT of worms to stay alive

11. Vaquita
The vaquita (Spanish for "little cow") is the smallest surviving
species of cetaceans. Restricted to the northern area of the
Gulf of California, or Sea of Cortez, they live in murky lagoons
and eat just about everything. They are critically endangered
and grow between 4-5 feet long and weigh around 100 pounds

12. Barbados Threadsnake
Found in the Caribbean island of Barbados, it is the smallest member of
the blind threadsnake species. Despite its name, it should be called
"spaghetti snake" because it is about as thick as a spaghetti noodle, not
thread. It grows to about 4" and coils easily onto the width of a 10p coin

13. Speckled Padloper Tortoise
Endemic to South Africa, the speckled padloper tortoise grows to about
4" and weighs about 5 ounces. They prefer arid, desert environments
and prefer leafy greens. They are threatened by the pet trade

14. Paedophryne Amanuensis Frog
Discovered in August 2009 in Papua New Guinea, it is the world's
smallest known vertebrate. In the wild, they live on rainforest leaf litter. In
the picture above, it seems content taking up roughly 1/4 of a US dime

15. Denise's Pygmy Seahorse
Originally found in Indonesia, Denise's pygmy seahorses have also been
recorded in Vanuatu, Palau, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, southern Japan,
northern Australia, and New Caledonia. They are about the size of an
average human finger nail and prefer to hide in coral reefs

16. Pygmy Mouse Lemur
The world's smallest species of lemur is an adorable 5" long and
weighs a manageable 2 ounces. Discovered in Madagascar as
recently as 1993, they are nocturnal and prefer deciduous forests

17. Patu Digua Spider
The smallest KNOWN species of spiders, pata diguas are endemic to
Colombia and are about the size of the full stop at the end of this sentence.

18. Musky Caiman Crocodile
Found in South America, it is the smallest species in the crocodile,
alligator, AND cayman family. Growing up to a mere 4ft they still have
razor sharp teeth that pack a punch!

19. Philippine Tarsier
The Philippine tarsier has quite the neck. Because it is unable to
move its eyes, it has evolved special vertebrae that allow it to turn its
head nearly 180 degrees. It is one of the smallest known primates,
measuring about the size of an average man's hand

20. Vechur Cow
Normally we think of cows as massive, lumbering beasts. But not
the Vechur cow, a rare breed of cow originally from India. Standing
two feet tall and four feet long, the cow is renowned for its ability
to produce vast quantities of milk while requiring very little feed

21. Monte Iberia Eleuth
Recognized as the smallest known frog in the Northern Hemisphere,
iit is found in Cuba and is a distant island relative to poison dart frogs

22. That’s all for now!
With thanks to Heavy.com
http://www.heavy.com/social/2013/03/the-20-smallest-animals-in-the-world/
Next - The Animal Kingdom
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