• Question: What is the smallest mammal, insect

    Asked by 13marbles to Adam, Chris, Eleanor, Jessamyn, Sinead on 14 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Eleanor Holmes

      Eleanor Holmes answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      According to my research the smallest mammal…depends upon how you measure smallest.

      Apparently the Etruscan shrew (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_shrew) is the smallest mammal by mass.

      But the adorably named Bumblebee Bat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitti%27s_hog-nosed_bat) is the smallest mammal by size. The bat must be slightly denser than the shrew.

      For insects; Adult males of the parasitic wasp Dicopomorpha echmepterygis can be as small as 139 μm long. Wow! That is small. One of those could curl up snugly on the tip of the needle I use to electrically connect my samples to my measuring equipment!

      I learned a lot answering this question!

    • Photo: Adam Murphy

      Adam Murphy answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      Eleanor’s dead on, those are tiny animals!

      I just wanted to add that because that bat is so small, it’s very sensitive to changes in its environment, and now, because of building, they’re starting to become endangered!!

      We have to look after the tiniest animals most of all!

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