Scientists in Madagascar have discovered a chameleon that can fit on your fingertip

Scientists say they have discovered a chameleon that may well be the smallest reptile on Earth. The miniature lizard is the size of a sunflower seed. A male and a female were discovered by a German-Madagascan expedition team in northern Madagascar. The male Brookesia nana, or “nano-chameleon,” is 22 millimeters long from nose to tail, the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich said. Its body length minus the tail is just 13.5 mm. That makes it the smallest of all the roughly 11,500 known species of reptiles. The female nano-chameleon is much bigger, at 29 mm in total length. The species’ closest relative is the Brookesia micra. The micrachameleon is slightly larger, and its discovery was announced in 2012. The discovery of the nano-chameleon was reported in the Jan. 28 issue of Scientific Reports. (Reuters) This article was provided by The Japan Times Alpha.