Animals come in all shapes and sizes, from the really tiny to the breathtakingly huge.

While, you may

think that being big is better, and it does have many advantages, being small is good too! You need
fewer resources to survive, can reproduce more often and can squeeze into all sorts of hiding places to
escape predators and hibernate!

Read more about some of the smallest vertebrate animals on earth in our list below.

10. Pygmy Rabbit

With a typical body length of 9.4–11.4 in (24–29 cm), the tiny Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) is
the smallest rabbit in the world. Adults weigh only 14 oz (400 g). Found in North America, they generally
inhabit areas with deep soil where they can burrow into tall, dense sagebrush for cover and food.
Extensive, well-used runways interlace sage thickets and provide travel and escape routes from
predators. Read More

9. Pygmy Marmoset

The Pygmy Marmoset or Dwarf Monkey (Cebuella pygmaea) is the world’s smallest monkey. It is native
to the rainforest canopies of Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. With a body length, not
including the tail, of 5.5–6.3 in (14–16 cm), they really are tiny, and they weigh only 0.5 oz (15 g) at birth.

8. Madame Berthe's Mouse Lemur

While the pygmy marmoset maybe the smallest monkey, the title of smallest known
primate goes to the Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur (Microcebus berthae). Found in the
Kirindy Mitea National Park in Western Madagascar, they have an average body length
of 3.6 in (92 mm) and a weight of around 1 oz (30 g).

 
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7. Etruscan Shrew
The Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus), also known as the Etruscan Pygmy Shrew and
the White-toothed Pygmy Shrew, weighs only 0.04–0.1 oz  (1.2–2.7 g). That makes it
the world’s smallest mammal when measured by weight, but, at 1.4–2 in (36–53 mm), it
loses out to the bumblebee bat for smallest in length. Not everything about the Etruscan
shrew is small though; its brain is the largest in ratio to its body weight of all animals,
larger even than that of a human!

 
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6. Speckled Padloper Tortoise
The world’s smallest turtle is the Speckled Padloper Tortoise (Homopus signatus) from
South Africa. Males measure 2.4–3.1 in (6–8 cm), while females, which are slightly
bigger, measure up to almost 4 in (10 cm). The tiny turtles feed on small plants they
forage from the rocky outcrops they call home, also using the tiny crevices as hiding
places from predators.

5. Bee Hummingbird
The Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is the smallest bird and the smallest warm-
blooded vertebrate. It measures 2.2 in (5.7 cm) in length and weighs 0.06 oz (1.8 g). Its
body size is not the only impressive thing about these birds though, as at only 0.8 in (2
cm) wide and 1.1 in (3 cm) deep, their nests are equally tiny!

 
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4. Kitti's Hog-Nosed Bat
The Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) or Bumblebee Bat from
Thailand and Burma is the smallest bat, measuring only 1.1–1.6 in (30–40 mm) in
length and weighing only 0.05–0.07 oz (1.5–2 g). It is about the same size as a
bumblebee and has a distinctive pig-like snout. It lives in limestone caves along
rivers, with an average of 100 individuals living in a single cave.

 
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3. Slender Blind Snakes
Slender Blind Snakes or Thread Snakes (Leptotyphlopidae) are thought to be the
world’s smallest snakes at about 4.3 in (11 cm) in length. Found in North and South
America, Africa, and Asia, there are 87 different species of Slender Blind snakes. They
are blind; nonvenomous snakes adapted to burrowing that feed on ants and termites.
Most species suck out the contents of insect bodies and discard the skin.

 
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2. Paedocypris
Measuring only 0.3 in (7.9 mm) in length, Paedocypris (Paedocypris) is the smallest
fish. Found in the peat swamp forests of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, they can survive
extreme drought due, in part, to their small size.
1. Paedophryne amauensis
The smallest frog in the world is the Paedophryne amauensis. First discovered in New
Guinea in 2009, it’s a relatively new species that doesn’t even have a common name
yet! With an average body size of just 0.3 in (7.7 mm), they are the smallest vertebrate
and well deserving of the top spot in this list!

 
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