World's smallest frog discovered

By Richard BlackEnvironment correspondent, BBC News

A frog species that appears to be the world's smallest has been discovered in Papua New Guinea by a US-based team.

At 7mm (0.27 inches) long, Paedophryne amauensis may be the world's smallest vertebrate - the group that includes mammals, fish, birds and amphibians.

The researchers also found a slightly larger relative, Paedophryne swiftorum.

Presenting the new species in PLoS One journal, they suggest the frogs' tiny scale is linked to their habitat, in leaf litter on the forest floor.

Finding the frogs was not an easy assignment.

They are well camouflaged among leaves on the forest floor, and have evolved calls resembling those of insects, making them hard to spot.

"The New Guinea forests are incredibly loud at night; and we were trying to record frog calls in the forest, and we were curious as to what these other sounds were," said research leader Chris Austin from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, US.

"So we triangulated to where these calls were coming from, and looked through the leaf litter.

"It was night, these things are incredibly small; so what we did after several frustrating attempts was to grab a whole handful of leaf litter and throw it inside a clear plastic bag.

"When we did so, we saw these incredibly tiny frogs hopping around," he told BBC News.

Littering the leaves

The Paedophryne genus was identified only recently, and consists of a number of tiny species found at various points in the eastern forests of Papua New Guinea.

Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16491477

Boffin breeds 'world's tiniest frogs'

A computer sciences professor in China claims he has artificially bred the world's smallest frog.

Hu Gansheng, 56, says his tiny frogs are so small they can only be seen clearly through a magnifying glass.

But he added that he was reluctant to tell his colleagues at the Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, of his achievement.

"I am afraid my leaders and colleagues would say I am not devoted to my work, although I did all this in my spare time," said Hu.

The professor says his frogs are smaller than a mung bean at only half a centimetre long, but can leap more 10cm.

"This type of new frog is very small, but very active. They love sports," he explained.

Hu said the small frog was a cross-breed between several local frogs.

"Last year, I went to the suburbs and caught several types of frogs, and dedicated myself to cross-breeding them to make new frog types," he said.

Hu now plans to breed more mini frogs to sell as novelty pets.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Boffin_breeds_worlds_tiniest_frogs