<p><strong>Match-tip tiny,<em> Brookesia micra </em>(juvenile pictured) is the smallest of four new chameleon species found on the African island country of <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/madagascar-guide/">Madagascar</a>. With an average adult length of just over an inch (2.9 centimeters) from snout to tail, <em>B. micra</em> is among the tiniest reptiles in the world.</strong></p><p>(Related: <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080630-chameleon-year.html">"Record-Breaking Chameleons Live Only a Few Months."</a>)</p><p>Scientists think the diminutive new chameleon species might represent extreme cases of island dwarfism, whereby organisms shrink in size due to limited resources on islands.</p><p>"The extreme miniaturization of these dwarf reptiles might be accompanied by numerous specializations of the body plan, and this constitutes a promising field for future research," study leader <a href="http://www.zsm.mwn.de/her/e/staff.htm#glaw">Frank Glaw</a> of Germany's Zoological State Collection said in a statement.</p><p><em>The <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0031314">new chameleon species study</a> was published this week in the journal</em> PLoS ONE.</p><p><em>—Ker Than</em></p>