The Frog the Size of a Pea

Yesterday, researchers announced the discovery of Microhyla nepenthicola, a frog which in its adulthood is between 10.6 and 12.8 millimeters long (0.42 to 0.50 inches) — smaller than a pea. Found on a mountain path in Borneo’s Kubah National Park, the frog is the smallest known frog in the Old World.

Curiously enough, Microhyla nepenthicola had been found and preserved by scientists in the past, but they didn’t think that it was its own species; rather, they thought they were “juveniles of other species,” according to Dr. Indraneil Das, one of the frog’s discoverers.

Note that there are even smaller species of frogs in the New World: The smallest known frogs in the New World (and thus, anywhere) are Cuba’s Monte Iberia Eleuth, at 9.6-9.8 millimeters long, and the Brazilian Gold Frog, at 9.8 millimeters. (Here’s what a Monte Iberia Eleuth looks like.)

(Discovery News via Presurfer)