The smallest reptile in the world was found in Madagascar. This is a chameleon

The new reptile species has been named Brookesia nana. Despite the fact that the Brookesia chameleon has only just been discovered, it is already

brink of extinction. The mountain forests in which it lives are disappearing due to human agricultural activities.

Today, herpetologists know about 30 species of brookesia (chameleons that inhabit the flattering litter), but, as scientists assume, there are much more of these miniature reptiles, because it is not easy to find them.

This time, the scientists from the Zoological State Collection of Munich were lucky. They found two tiny chameleons in the north of the island. Genetic analysis confirmed that this is a separate species.

Brookesia nana is also different in appearancefrom congeners from other species. The female is 19.2 mm long (from the tip of the muzzle to the cloaca) slightly larger than the male. Before that, B. micra was considered the smallest chameleon: its body length is 15.3 mm.

Of the interesting features of the species:for such a tiny organism, males have relatively large copulatory organs - paired heminopenis. In the inverted state, each of them is 2.5 mm long. According to zoologists, this physiological feature is dictated by reverse sexual dimorphism: due to the large size of the females, the males had to acquire larger genital organs in the process of evolution.

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