The World’s Smallest Mammals

Published November 7, 2012
Updated November 7, 2023

Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur

First categorized as a new species in the year 2000 and named after named after the conservationist Madame Berthe Rakotosamimanana, this smallest of the mouse lemurs (and the world’s smallest primate) can only be seen in the Madagascan Kirindy Mitea National Park.

With a diet made up of insects, small reptiles, fruit and “honeydew”, a sugary secretion produced by the larvae of Flatida coccinea, this nocturnal forager can lower its internal temperature and metabolic rate to conserve water and energy during the dry season.

Pygmy Marmoset

Pygmy Marmoset

Source: My Cool Backgrounds, http://www.mycoolbackgrounds.com/backgrounds/33444/What%27s%20Going%20On%20Up%20Here_%20Pygmy%20Marmoset.jpg

To find the world’s smallest true monkey, the Pygmy Marmoset, you’ll need to take a trip to the often flooded, tropical evergreen forests of the Amazon basin. Usually found in family troops of two to fifteen individuals, this omnivorous species has a special liking for certain kinds of tree sap and has evolved a lower jaw specialized for making holes in bark. 

author
Savannah Cox
author
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.
Cite This Article
Cox, Savannah. "The World’s Smallest Mammals." AllThatsInteresting.com, November 7, 2012, https://allthatsinteresting.com/worlds-smallest-mammals. Accessed April 23, 2024.