Hands—er, Wings—up!

This is the tiny little rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris), also known as the titipounamu, chloris wren, military wren, and New Zealand wren. It is from…

New Zealand. *Gasp!*

Though called wrens, riflemen are actually not related to either common wrens (Troglodytidae) nor the fairywrens (Maluridae).

New Zealand’s smallest endemic bird, the rifleman is a tiny creature, growing to a “measly” 3.14 (not π!) inches (8 cm). It lives all over the place (yay!) in New Zealand (nuuuh, better plan a move there) and they eat yummy things like ice cream like worms.

They live in lush, lowland forests full of podocarps (Podocarpaceae), a type of Northern Hemisphere conifers, comprised of 156 species and 19 genera! Yay!

The &.

How Much is that Bargibant's Seahorse in the Window?

Look closely. See the little head? There’s a red circle around it. :)

The Bargibant’s seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti) is an extremely cute little syngnathid, reaching only .79 inches (2 cm) in length and living primarily fixed to sea fans (Gorgonacea) with their li’l tails. Because of the extreme camouflage, Bargibant’s seahorses weren’t discovered until scientists were studying the sea fans they were attached to in a lab.

There are many other different tiny seahorses like this, such as the Denise’s seahorse (H. denise), the Satomi’s seahorse (H. satomiae, the smallest seahorse in the world at just 1.4 cm), Japanese seahorse (discovered, but has not been given a binomial name. I call it “H. japonensis”) Severn’s seahorse (Hippocampus severnsi), Pontoh’s seahorse (H. pontoh), and the Walea soft coral pygmy seahorse (H. waleananus), which has a name that’s longer than the fish itself.

Bargibant’s seahorses live primarily on reefs (sea fans, duh) in the western central Pacific Ocean and live primarily on small copepods (Copepoda).

PS: FIFTIETH post. ALREADY?

O_o

It Can't Even Eat Grapes!

How does Ai does dis?

These are all Kleinmann’s elf tortoises (Pseudotestudo leithii), so small and cute that it can hardly eat a grape and also it’s critically endangered and can go extinct in the wild any day now! Yay!

“Yay”!? *Slaps self in face.*

I would seriously die a thousand deaths if the Kleinmann’s elf tortoise went extinct. LOOK at it! At just 10 centimeters long, this is the tiniest tortoise that has ever lived in the Northern Hemisphere. They range in color from dark brown to pale golden to pink (yay!) to ivory to a dull yellow (ugh!).

The strangest thing about Kleinmann’s elf tortoises is that…they have a mating song. It sounds like a mourning dove (Zenaida macroura)—coo-OO, oo-oo-oo—gradually fading away depressingly. :(

When it’s scared it hides in its shell ^_^ I love these things. They deserve millions of huggles. :3

KoC Fact: Grunions are Oceanic Piggies.

This is the small California grunion (Leuresthes tenue), which can grow to a slightly surprising 7½ inches (19 cm). It lives in…

California! Ha. I’m so smart.

They are related to rainbowfish (Bedotiidae and Melanotaeniidae), which is slightly odd, as they look nothing alike. They also are related to the topsmelt (Atherinops affinis).

They remind me a lot of pigs (Sus spp.) because of the fact that they like to roll in the mud on the beach! :) Cute. Until you realize they’re laying eggs.

Moving on.

Meet the Smallest Amphibian!

This is the smallest amphibian that ever lived. It’s the Paedophryne amauensis, and it’s got no common name. I’ll just call it Doctor Cucumber after Greg’s frog in Over the Garden Wall.

Doctor Cucumber lives in Papua New Guinea. It was discovered in August 2009, but not formally described till January 2012.

This species’ habitat is leaf litter in the forest floor, where it hops around happily and eats its fave foods—small invertebrates! Yay!

Sadly, Doctor Cucumber’s lifespan does not include an ultra-micro tadpole stage. :( But we forgive him because he’s so tiny and disarmingly cute. :)

Their call is a series of high-pitched peep! notes that make the whole frog one hundred times cuter.