[ti:Report: Newly Found Chameleon May Be World’s Smallest Reptile]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]The island nation of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa,
[00:05.56]may be home to the smallest kind of reptile in the world.
[00:11.72]The chameleon, at only 13-and-one-half millimeters long,
[00:17.56]could fit on the end of your finger.
[00:22.84]The new species was given the scientific name Brookesia nana,
[00:29.20]but it is also called the nano-chameleon.
[00:33.44]It appears to have broken the old record for reptile size by 1.5 millimeters.
[00:42.80]A Madagascar nature guide discovered two of the animals,
[00:48.04]a female and male, on a mountainside in 2012.
[00:53.80]Researchers from Madagascar and Germany began studying the animals.
[01:00.04]The female was larger.
[01:02.36]Tests showed she was an adult carrying two eggs.
[01:08.60]The team’s findings appeared in the publication Scientific Reports.
[01:15.32]German scientist Frank Glaw, the lead researcher on the team,
[01:21.20]is an expert on amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar.
[01:27.08]He said these new lizards are so small
[01:31.44]“you really have to get down on your knees to find them.”
[01:36.44]Like other chameleons, they can hide by changing their appearance
[01:41.16]to blend with their environment.
[01:44.32]Glaw also noted that the nano-chameleon moves very slowly.
[01:50.92]Among the more surprising discoveries
[01:53.68]is the size of the male’s reproductive organs,
[01:57.52]which make up 20 percent of the animal’s body size.
[02:03.04]The researchers think this quality may assist its mating efforts
[02:08.04]with the larger female of the species.
[02:12.28]Researchers are searching for other Brookesia nana on Madagascar.
[02:18.68]They say the nano-chameleon lives in a forest area of Madagascar
[02:23.56]that humans are cutting down for agriculture space and wood.
[02:29.76]However, team researcher Oliver Hawlitschek
[02:34.20]said the area has recently been named as a protected space.
[02:40.48]“Hopefully, that will enable this tiny new chameleon to survive," he said.
[02:47.96]I’m Dan Friedell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM