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NEW ORLEANS: A frog that can perch on the tip of your pinkie with room to spare has been claimed as the world’s smallest vertebrate, out-tinying a fish that got the title in 2006.
However, a scientist who found another weensy fish disputes both claims. The adult frogs are about three-tenths of an inch long, and a millimeter or so smaller than a carp found in Sumatra.
An article Wednesday in the journal PLoS One named Paedophryne amauensis as the world’s smallest animal with a spine. But a University of Washington scientist says a male anglerfish he found in 2006 is even smaller.
Louisiana State University scientist Christopher Austin, who found the frogs, says he was comparing average species size – and the 1.8-inch (4.57-centimeter) female anglerfish is comparatively huge.
