Hey there! Have you ever seen something really tiny? Today, we’re going to learn about some of the smallest animals on Earth. Let’s start with something cool called the Piccolissimo. It’s one of the world’s smallest drones, and it’s so tiny it can fit in your pocket—it’s the size of a quarter!
Now, let’s talk about animals. Have you ever wondered what the smallest animal on Earth is? It’s a tricky question because there are so many tiny animals out there! One of them is the Tasmanian pygmy possum. This little creature is smaller than the crayons you use at school! Being small helps it hide from bigger animals and move easily through the forests in Australia where it lives.
Another tiny animal is the Etruscan shrew. It’s one of the smallest land animals by weight, weighing only 1.8 grams—about the same as a paperclip or a raisin! If we’re talking about fuzzy animals, the Etruscan shrew might be the smallest. But not all tiny animals are furry!
Have you ever heard of zooplankton? These tiny creatures live in the ocean and are just a little bigger than the tip of your pencil. Even though they don’t look like animals, they are! Zooplankton can’t make their own food like plants, so they float around in the ocean currents to find something to eat.
Insects are also animals, and some of them are really tiny. For example, fleas are so small that they can hide in the fur of other animals. But there’s an insect even smaller than a flea called the fairyfly. It’s so tiny it can fit on the tip of a needle! Sometimes, fairyflies hitch a ride on the back of a butterfly because they’re so small the butterfly doesn’t even notice!
To find the smallest animal of all, we need a microscope. Meet the microzooplankton! These tiny creatures are related to jellyfish, and if you lined up 1,000 of them, they would only be as long as a paperclip! Many scientists think microzooplankton are the smallest animals on Earth, but who knows? We might discover an even smaller animal someday!
So, the smallest animals on Earth aren’t just the ones with fur and legs like the Tasmanian pygmy possum or the Etruscan shrew. They can also be tiny creatures like zooplankton, fleas, fairyflies, and microzooplankton. Isn’t that amazing?
Thanks for joining us on this tiny adventure! Keep asking questions and stay curious. There are so many mysteries to explore. See you next time!
Animal Size Comparison: Gather some everyday items like a paperclip, a raisin, a crayon, and a pencil. Use these items to compare the sizes of the tiny animals you learned about. For example, the Etruscan shrew weighs about the same as a paperclip. Can you find something at home that is the same size as a Tasmanian pygmy possum or a fairyfly? Draw a picture of your favorite tiny animal next to the item that matches its size.
Miniature Habitat Exploration: Create a small habitat for one of the tiny animals using a shoebox or a small container. Use materials like leaves, twigs, and cotton balls to mimic the environment where your chosen animal lives. For example, you can create a forest scene for the Tasmanian pygmy possum. Think about what the animal might need to survive and include those elements in your habitat. Share your creation with your family and explain why the habitat is suitable for the animal.
Observation and Imagination: Go on a nature walk with an adult and look for tiny creatures like insects or small animals. Bring a magnifying glass if you have one to see them up close. After your walk, imagine you are as small as one of these tiny animals. Write a short story or draw a comic strip about your adventures as a tiny creature. What challenges would you face? What would you see and hear?
Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hey, it’s Esther! Want to see something cool? You’re looking at one of the world’s smallest drones; it’s called the Piccolissimo, and it would definitely fit in your pocket—it’s the size of a quarter!
Someone named Brady is curious about something else that’s really small—something that’s actually alive. Let’s give Brady a call now.
Hi, Brady! I have a question for you: What is the smallest animal on Earth? Ooh, that’s a great question! A lot of animals are really small, but those are often babies. When scientists try to answer this question, they’re looking for the smallest animal when they’re all grown up. Can you think of any animals that fit that description? Before I go on, I’m curious—what do you think is the smallest animal on Earth? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, you ready? Believe it or not, this isn’t an easy question to answer. There are just so many animals in the world to choose from, and a lot of them are pretty tiny when they’re all grown up. Like this one: this is a Tasmanian pygmy possum. Pretty small, right? Pygmy possums like this one are smaller than the crayons you use at school. And remember, that’s when they’re all grown up! Being tiny is a good thing because it helps them hide from predators and lets them navigate through the forests in Australia where they live. The Tasmanian pygmy possum is the smallest possum in the world, but guess what? We can go even smaller than that!
See this animal? It’s an Etruscan shrew, one of the smallest land animals by weight in the world. It only weighs 1.8 grams—that’s about the weight of a paperclip or a raisin! Incredible! Now, if we’re only thinking of fuzzy animals, the Etruscan shrew might win the prize for the smallest animal on Earth. But wait a second— not all animals look like that! In fact, some of the tiniest animals on Earth might not be what you expected.
Have you ever seen one of these? Zooplankton live in the ocean, and they’re really small—only a little bigger than the tip of your pencil. And though it doesn’t look like an animal, it is! Like all animals, zooplankton have to find food to eat because they can’t make their own food like plants can. But they can’t easily move on their own like a lot of animals; they have to use the ocean currents to float around and find food.
Like zooplankton, there are a ton of tiny creatures that people might not recognize as animals at first—like insects! Yep, insects are animals too, and they’re some of the tiniest creatures of all. You can find them in the most unexpected places. I once rescued a cat from someone’s garage, and when I looked at its fur, it looked pretty normal. But then I looked closely and saw something moving—fleas! Fleas are so tiny; I couldn’t believe how small they were! If I hadn’t looked closely, I would have never found them. Fleas are so small that they can sneak into hard-to-get places to find food or hide, like in another animal’s fur.
But one of the smallest insects of all is even smaller than a flea. It’s called a fairyfly, and it’s so tiny that it can fit on the tip of a needle! The fairyfly is one of the smallest flying creatures on Earth, but even though it can fly, it sometimes chooses not to. Instead, it likes to hitch a ride on the back of a butterfly to get around, and it’s so small that the butterfly doesn’t even notice!
Okay, the fairyfly is definitely one of the smallest animals on Earth, but to find the smallest animal of all, we’ll need to look under a microscope. See those dots moving around? Those are actually animals called microzooplankton. They’re relatives of jellyfish, and they’re so small that if you put 1,000 of them end to end, the line would only be as big as a paperclip! Wow! Many scientists think the microzooplankton is the smallest animal on Earth for now, but there are so many tiny animals out there that it’s possible a new and even smaller animal will be discovered in the near future.
Pretty cool! So in summary, the smallest animals on Earth aren’t just the fuzzy ones with arms, eyes, and legs to get around, like the Tasmanian pygmy possum or the Etruscan shrew. The world’s tiniest animals don’t look like that at all, like zooplankton in the ocean or insects like fleas and fairyflies. And the smallest animal on Earth, at least for now, is the microzooplankton that you can only see under a microscope.
That’s all for this week’s question! Thanks, Brady, for asking it. We’ll be back with a new episode in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, here are some older questions from the question jar you can vote on for next week. You can choose from: Why do we get hiccups? Do fish sleep? Or why do we have leap years? So submit your vote when the video is over. We want to hear from all of you watching! There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week!
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This version removes informal language and ensures clarity while maintaining the original content’s essence.
