What's The Smallest Reptile On Earth

By: NDTVNewsDesk

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The male brookesia nana, or nano-chameleon is the smallest of all the known species of reptiles.

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This chameleon's total length from nose to tail is just under 22 mm (0.87 inch)

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The species is so tiny that it's thought to survive on a diet of mites and springtails, which it hunts down in leaf litter. 

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The brookesia nana is different from any other vertebrate and other chameleon species.

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It can't change colour, and it's more comfortable on the forest floor than in trees.

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Most vertebrates grow as they mature, but not these chameleons.

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They're an example of "paedomorphism," or the retention of juvenile traits in maturity.

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Scientists aren't quite sure why they have stayed so small while most other vertebrates keep growing.

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