Smallest reptile
Who
Brookesia nana
What
13.5 millimetre(s)
Where
Madagascar ()
When

The smallest reptiles are the males of several species of dwarf chameleon (genus Brookesia) from Madagascar, which when fully grown are small enough to fit on a fingertip. The smallest identified to date is B. nana, with one adult male measuring 13.5 mm (0.53 in) from snout to vent (anus) - or 21.9 mm (0.86 in) including the tail - as described in Scientific Advances on 28 January 2021. Females are slightly larger, measuring 19.2 mm (0.76 in) snout–vent length, with a total length of 28.9 mm (1.14 in). In both cases, it's worth highlighting that these measurements are based on single specimens so further research is needed to establish a species-wide average size.


Prior to the discovery of B. nana in northern Madagascar (the holotype of which was collected on 1 December 2012), the smallest known Brookesia chameleons were 14 mm (0.55 in) snout-vent length, shared by three species: the Madagascan minute leaf chameleon (B. minima), the Madagascan micro leaf chameleon (B. micra) and the Mount d'Ambre leaf chameleon (B. tuberculata). In all cases, the females were slightly larger than the males.

Reptiles are typically measured from snout to vent, as tail lengths can vary depending upon injury and other external factors.

Only marginally larger than Madagascar's Brookesia dwarf chameleons are two gecko species from Central America: the Virgin Islands dwarf gecko (Sphaerodactylus parthenopion) and the Beata dwarf gecko (S. ariasae), which have both been recorded as having an average snout-to-vent length of 16 mm (0.63 in).