Washington: World's smallest frogs were discovered in southeast New Guinea by US researchers.
The frogs belong to the genus Paedophryne. The length of an adult frog of this species is only 8-9 mm. This also makes them the world's smallest tetrapods (non-fish vertebrates), Xinhua reported quoting the journal ZooKeys Monday.
The frogs were discovered by Fred Kraus and his colleagues from Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
Previous research by Kraus had led to the discovery of Paedophryne in New Guinea in 2002. However, the genus was not formally described until last year.
Two species of the same genus described earlier were larger, attaining sizes of 10-11 mm.
"Miniaturization occurs in many frog genera around the world, but New Guinea seems particularly well represented, with species in seven genera exhibiting the phenomenon," Kraus said.
IANS
First Published: Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 10:20