Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
I wanted to let you all know that a paper came out today describing 4 new Brookesia species: Brookesia confidens, Brookesia desperata, Brookesia micra, and Brookesia tristis.
The smallest of these, Brookesia micra, reaches only 24mm in total length (including tail) with males being only 16mm SVL, making it the smallest chameleon species and among the smallest vertebrates in the world. Its scientific name is obviously related to its small size. Photos of this species can be seen in this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...The-mini-meleon-smallest-reptiles-planet.html
All four of these new species are from extremely limited ranges and therefore are likely to be highly threatened by deforestation. Brookesia desperata, for instance is found only in a small rainforest remnant and is named for its desperate conservation state. Brookesia tristis is similarly named ("tristis" means "sad"). As another example, Brookesia micra is from a small islet that is only 115 ha in size.
Here is the reference to the new paper:
F. Glaw, J. Köhler, T. Townsend, M. Vences: Rivaling the World's Smallest Reptiles: Discovery of Miniaturized and Microendemic New Species of Leaf Chameleons (Brookesia) from Northern Madagascar. PLoS ONE (DOI 0031314)
Chris
The smallest of these, Brookesia micra, reaches only 24mm in total length (including tail) with males being only 16mm SVL, making it the smallest chameleon species and among the smallest vertebrates in the world. Its scientific name is obviously related to its small size. Photos of this species can be seen in this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...The-mini-meleon-smallest-reptiles-planet.html
All four of these new species are from extremely limited ranges and therefore are likely to be highly threatened by deforestation. Brookesia desperata, for instance is found only in a small rainforest remnant and is named for its desperate conservation state. Brookesia tristis is similarly named ("tristis" means "sad"). As another example, Brookesia micra is from a small islet that is only 115 ha in size.
Here is the reference to the new paper:
F. Glaw, J. Köhler, T. Townsend, M. Vences: Rivaling the World's Smallest Reptiles: Discovery of Miniaturized and Microendemic New Species of Leaf Chameleons (Brookesia) from Northern Madagascar. PLoS ONE (DOI 0031314)
Chris
but I must disagree with Chuck... This is VERY VERY small NEWS! 
