Pic Today 2/22/12

LITTLE BIG GUY

Good things come in small packages.

(And survive.)

Meet the tiniest reptile, brookesia micra,

a chameleon that fits on your fingertip,

just found on Nosy Hara, an islet

off the north coast of Madagascar.

At one time, islands like Madagascar

also had giant animals. But it was the

littlest animals who survived over a million years.

The big animals went extinct, while little ones survived.

Big species were vulnerable because

they require big habitats and they were hunted by humans.

Small species require relatively few resources

and very little space.

(A lesson for survival.)

Here's the jungle where they survive and prosper.

(Photos: PLoS ONE Magazine)