The Etruscan shrew is the smallest known mammal by mass, weighing only about 1.8 grams (0.063 oz) on average. It has a body length of about 4 centimetres (1.6 in) excluding the tail. It is characterized by very rapid movements and a fast metabolism, eating about 1.5–2 times its own body weight per day. It feeds on various small vertebrates and invertebrates, mostly insects, and can hunt individuals of the same size as itself. These shrews prefer warm and damp climates and are widely distributed in the belt between 10° and 30°N latitude stretching from Europe and North Africa up to Malaysia. They are relatively rare and are endangered in some countries.
This critically endangered amphibian only grows to be about 10mm in snout to vent length—that’s 0.39 of an inch! Eleutherodactylus iberia is the smallest frog in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s found in eastern Cuba, including in Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt, which is where Museum researcher Chris Raxworthy snapped this photo in 2015 while on the Explore21 Expedition to Cuba. Much remains unknown about this tiny species, as it was first discovered in 1996.
Mount d´Ambre leaf chameleon (Brookesia tuberculata)
The Mount d’Ambre leaf chameleon is a diminutive chameleon from far northern Madagascar. This species inhabits rainforest and during the day it is active in the leaf litter or on small branches a few centimetres above the ground. At
night it can be found roosting on branches approximately 5 – 15 cm above
the ground. It is considered ’Vulnerable’ by the IUCN red list.
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