A new species of leaf chameleon, named Brookesia nofy, has been discovered in the coastal rainforests of Madagascar.

This tiny chameleon, measuring less than half the length of a human forefinger, was found in a highly threatened habitat. The discovery was made when tourists posted photos of the tiny reptiles on the internet, prompting Miguel Vences and his colleagues at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany to take notice. Malagasy collaborators Andolalao Rakotoarison and Alida Frankline Hasiniaina located and collected the first sample of the newly discovered species. Leaf chameleons, which belong to the genus Brookesia, are miniature chameleons that resemble fallen leaves and have been setting records for their small body sizes in recent years. For example, Brookesia nana, described in northern Madagascar in 2021, is only 22 millimetres long and is believed to be the world’s smallest reptile. The newly discovered Brookesia nofy, named after the Ankanin’ny Nofy tourist site where it was found on Madagascar’s eastern coastline, measures approximately 33 millimetres long. This species is the first leaf chameleon to be found living in coastal or littoral rainforests, which are considered the most threatened habitat on the island, with only around 10% of its original extent remaining.