The world's smallest vertebrate animal has been confirmed to be the flea toad which can only be found in Brazil. This toad with the scientific name Brachycephalus pulex has an average length of only 7mm. It overtakes the previous record holder which is the frog Paedophryne amauensis from Papua New Guinea which has an average length of 7.7mm.
The existence of this toad has been known since the first specimen was found in 2011 but at that time scientists did not know if it was an adult toad. After 46 specimens were studied and confirmed to be adult male toads, Brachycephalus pulex is now confirmed as the smallest vertebrate animal in the world. Most interesting is the smallest specimen of this toad is only 6.45mm long.
Toads only live in two habitats in the hills of Bahia, located in Eastern Brazil. Although it currently holds the status of the world's smallest vertebrate animal, scientists believe there is a possibility that smaller species exist. A research paper on the discovery of Brachycephalus pulex was published in the journal Zoologica Scripta.
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