Hunt for the world's smallest vertebrate

Last week, the science community celebrated the discovery of the world’s smallest vertebrate, a tiny frog, no bigger than a five pence piece, named Paedophryne amauensi.
The miniscule amphibian, with an average body size of just 7.7mm, was discovered by accident after researchers from Louisiana State University, US scooped it up in a handful of leaves from the Papua New Guinean rainforest floor.

But the title for world’s smallest vertebrate is a hotly contested one and this week, a new contender has entered the ring, Photocorynus spinicep, a male angler fish that can measure 0.8mm smaller than the tiniest Paedophryne amauensi. The fish lives as a parasite on the back of the much larger female, surviving off nutrients in her blood. This parasitic existence has caused some to dispute whether it deserves the accolade, as by not having its own stomach, some say it cannot be regarded as a separate creature.

Other tiny organisms…

Smallest flower
The world’s smallest flower belongs to the wolffia genus, and is more commonly know as duckweed. It floats in mats at the surface of fresh water and resembles a grain of green cornmeal.

Smallest insect
The male Dicopomorpha echmepterygis is a parasitic wasp that can grow to just 0.139mm long.

Smallest bird
The smallest bird on the planet is Mellisuga helenae, the Bee Hummingbird. It weighs just 1.8 grams and is only 5cm in length. Not only that, it also holds the record for the smallest warm-blooded vertebrate.

Pic credits
Frog: Christian Fischer.
Plant: Rittmeyer EN, Allison A, Gründler MC, Thompson DK, Austin CC
Fish: Ted Pietsch