
Isn’t he adorable? It’s not that I’m infatuated with amphibians. I’m just intrigued by tiny things. Especially tiny living things.
This little guy, a member of the newly discovered species Paedophryne amanuensis, was found near Amau village in Papua, New Guinea. He’s one of the top 10 new species of 2013. At a mere 7-8 mm in length, he takes the title of “smallest living vertebrate” fromΒ a tiny Southeast Asian cyprinid fish that had held the title since 2006.
Also making the top 10 wereΒ Chondrocladia lyra,Β the harp or lyre sponge, discovered in the northeast Pacific off the California coast, andΒ Cercopithecus lomamiensis,Β the lesula monkey, discovered in the Congo. The monkey totally cracks me up. Such a human face. And very familiar, too. I know I’ve seen this exact expression on some famous face somewhere, but I can’t place it. A bored, long-suffering Ben Stein, perhaps?


More on these and the remaining 7 species can be found on the LiveScience website.
Fascinating PT. Hey, was it Pat Paulson? π
Hey, I think you’re right! Pat Paulsen. Especially since he didn’t wear glasses and Stein always does.
I was a huge Paulson fan, and his was the first face I thought of! π
Luckily for me. This is the kind of thing that can keep me awake nights, trying to remember where I’ve seen something or someone before. I think you nailed it.
These are lovely, PT – the sponge is amazing!
Isn’t it? I thought at first it was some piece of aluminum modern art.
Now that’s a tiny frog! (My sister in law just sent a nice pix of a horny toad from West TX – we used to have so many of those even around here – haven’t been seen for years)
Cool sponge! Looks like a sculpture.
And that is a friendly little face
Where, oh where, have the horny toads gone? Love those little guys, and kept so many as pets when I was a kid. They were everywhere. Like you, I haven’t seen one in many, many years. I have a faint recollection of rescuing one from the dog back in the ’70s, and even then they’d become uncommon.
CUTE, CUTE, CUTE!!
That about sums it up. π
π
The lesula monkey does look familiar! Took me all of 60 seconds to place that puss: Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. No bout a doubt it! π
I heard once that McConnell looks like a turtle (no chin, etc.). That image is now so embedded in my mind, I can’t see him any other way.
Darn, having trouble posting the image. PicturesΒ here.
Cleaned up that link for you. I ran into similar problems the last time I tried to put an image in the comments. Nothing I tried worked. Very frustrating.
Thanks. Some day I’ll figure it out, I just know it. π
Please indulge me – another try.
Well, at least I’m not the only one who can’t figure it out. π
No, you sure aren’t. Rats.