Saturday, January 21, 2012

Two species fight for title of "smallest vertebrate"

http://www.livescience.com/17896-smallest-vertebrate-controversy-frog-angler-fish.html?utm_content=marleybonez&utm_campaign=seo%2Bblitz&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social%2Bmedia

male angler fish

Miniature frog is the worlds smallest vertebrate, or animal with a backbone.Paedophryne amanuensis

Turns out their is more than one way to measure a vertebrate and these two species are proof. It was recently thought that a tropical frog, with the scientific name Paedophryne amanuensis, was the smallest vertebrate known at an average of 7.7 millimeters (0.30 inches) long. A researcher at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington argues that the male fish, called the angler fish, is the smallest vertebrate at a length of 0.8 millimeters (0.03 inches). So, to end the argument a group of researchers came up with the idea of measuring the mature species. This included both the male and female of the species to see if both of the sexes are about the same in length. The measurement of the frog species is the same for both male and females. The male angler fish measures at 0.8 millimeters, while its female counterpart measures at 46 millimeters. 

This then brings up the question, which of the two species is the smallest? To me both sexes of a species should be taken into account, so the frogs would be the smallest to me. What do you people think is the smallest of the two? Leave your response in the comments section below. 

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