Everything in our world is known by comparison, so in order to realize and present the sizes of the largest animals, we made a small list that includes the smallest mammals that live on our amazing planet.
6 smallest mammals of the planet:
1
Pig Bat
It turns out that the smallest mammal on Earth not only has tiny body sizes, but also knows how to fly. The size of this bat barely reaches 3 centimeters, while it weighs only 1.5-2 grams.
The unusual structure of the nose in the form of a patch of piglet determined its species name. But the tail of this animal is missing, and the ears are a bit swollen, like its usual relatives.
You can meet the smallest mammal in the south-west of Thailand and Burma. They live in small groups in caves near rivers.
2
Dwarf Tooth
Quite a bit surpassed in the sizes of a bat a dwarfish polydentum from family of shrews. The body of a gray-brown animal grows from 3.5 to 4 centimeters, and if measured with a tail, it turns out 6 centimeters.
This predator, similar to a long-nosed mouse, needs to eat food 2 times its own weight per day, they weigh no more than 1.8 grams. Mnogozubki usually lead a nocturnal lifestyle, hunting near their homes for small frogs, small lizards, small rodents.
The habitat is quite wide, from Portugal to the coast of Japan and the Philippines.
3
Dwarf Flying Couscous
This funny and unusual animal from the detachment of two-marsupial marsupials is able not only to move perfectly through the trees, but also to plan perfectly.
Like most marsupials, couscous lives in Australia, and is the smallest in a huge family of its relatives. The animal grows no more than 14 centimeters, of which half is the tail.
Flying couscous are held in groups of 5 individuals, and lead a nocturnal lifestyle. They eat nectar of flowers, but sometimes small animals and fruits are included in the diet.
We advise you to read: Amazing animals of Australia, living only on the "Green Continent".
4
American Shrew Mole
Unlike its larger relatives, the shrew mole spends most of its life on the surface and even knows how to climb on the branches of small bushes.
It differs from other moles in body structure, having a long proboscis, which is slightly flattened at the tip. To get food in the ground, the baby has sharp claws.
The animal weighs only 10 grams, and the size of the body with the tail does not exceed 7 centimeters. This species lives on the west coast of the United States and Canada.
5
Three-fingered half-jerboa
A touching animal, a tiny animal lives in the vastness of Afghanistan and Pakistan, but some species can be found in other regions of Asia.
One of the smallest rodents on planet Earth weighs only 3 grams, and the body is no more than 5 centimeters. It is noteworthy that the tail of the animal is many times larger than the size of the body, and sometimes grows up to 25 centimeters. By the way, on thebiggest you can find an article about the largest rodents in the world.
Recently, the three-toed half-jerboa has become very popular on the Internet, and videos with its participation are gaining millions of views, competing with cats, pandas and raccoons.
6
Small shrew
The small shrew living in Europe and in the vast expanses of Russia also got its right to be included in the list of small mammals.
The body weight of baby shrews reaches only 7.5 grams, with body sizes from 4 to 6.5 centimeters. The tail, like many shrew representatives, is quite long - from 3 to 5 centimeters.
The animal eats insects. The habitat, where the winters are rather cold, forced the shrew to change the fur from summer to winter fur. Winter fur is thicker and has a brownish-coffee hue.
Finally
The size of many small mammals is determined by their lifestyle, and helped them to maintain their population, fleeing predators in places inaccessible to other animals. Light weight helps them get to the very tips of the thinnest branches when catching insects. TheBiggest editors ask you to write in the comments which smallest mammals impressed you the most, and which we may have forgotten to mention in our article.