Mini (frog)

Mini is a genus of tiny microhylid frogs that are endemic to southeastern Madagascar where they live among leaf litter in lowland forests. The three species and the genus itself were only scientifically described in 2019; although not yet rated by the IUCN, they have very small ranges and it has been recommended that two qualify as critically endangered and M. ature as data deficient.[1][2]

Mini
Mini mum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Microhylidae
Subfamily: Cophylinae
Genus: Mini
Scherz et al., 2019
Type species
Mini mum
Scherz et al., 2019
Diversity
3 species

At about 8–11.5 mm (0.31–0.45 in) in snout–to–vent length, M. mum and M. scule are two of the world's smallest frogs, and the larger M. ature is only c. 15 mm (0.6 in).[1][2][3][4] They were formerly confused with Stumpffia, another genus of tiny frogs from Madagascar. All are well-camouflaged brown frogs.[1]

Species

There are currently 3 species:[1]

  • Mini ature Scherz et al., 2019
  • Mini mum Scherz et al., 2019
  • Mini scule Scherz et al., 2019

References
  1. Scherz, Mark D.; Hutter, Carl D.; Rakotoarison, Andolalao; Riemann, Jana C.; Rödel, Mark-Oliver; Ndriantsoa, Serge H.; Glos, Julian; Roberts, Sam Hyde; Crottini, Angelica; Vences, Miguel; Glaw, Frank (2019-03-27). "Morphological and ecological convergence at the lower size limit for vertebrates highlighted by five new miniaturised microhylid frog species from three different Madagascan genera". PLOS ONE. 14 (3): e0213314. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213314. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6436692. PMID 30917162.
  2. Donahue, Michelle Z. (2019-03-27). "New staple-size frog is one of the tiniest ever discovered". National Geographic. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  3. Scherz, Mark D. "Meet the mini frogs of Madagascar -- the new species we've discovered". The Conversation.
  4. Solly, Meilan (28 March 2019). "Meet Mini mum, Mini scule and Mini ature, Three New Frog Species Among the World's Smallest". Smithsonian.com. Retrieved 2019-04-30.


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