These Toadlets Are So Tiny They Can't Balance Anymore, And The Footage Is Ridiculous

Being small can have benefits. You don't need as much food, you don't take up as much space, and you're harder to find.

Researchers have found a limit to how small a backboned animal can get. Pumpkin toadlets have become so small that they have become awkward acrobatics whenever they attempt to leap.

They crash land on their butt, backs, bellies, and even face, bouncing before finally coming to a stop. The impacts do not seem to hurt them.

Pumpkin toadlets are known for their jumping prowess, but they are not the only professional belly-flops. The ability to jump was thought to have evolved before they could land.

Richard Essner Jr. and colleagues used scans of the inner ears of over 150 different species to try to find the problem.

Edward Stanley is a herpetologist from the Florida Museum of Natural History. They sort of stomp around in a way that resembles walking.

Brachycephalus leopardus's awkward limbs. (Ribeiro et al., PeerJ, 2015)

The toadlets only have three toes, but their springing leg muscles work well.

Their jumping technique doesn't explain much, with futilely reaching, splayed limbs likely limiting their ability to maximize their distance from the threat they're fleeing.

The problem was found in their heads.

The system of fluid-filled chambers in our ears is what tells us which way to go. Our brain uses fine hairs to detect orientation and speed of liquid as it moves through our body.

The right information for the frog to be able to correct its orientation is not being provided.

Stanley says that the canals are not large enough to allow liquid to move at a rate that would allow them to maintain balance. Some people have challenges with their ears. Two species have hearing equipment that's so poor they can't hear their own songs.

They are slow and careful walkers because of their undersized vestibular system. Pumpkin toadlets spend most of their time hiding in the leaves of their homes in Brazil.

The Federal University of Paran zoologist says they are peculiar. They can't swim, they don't have tadpoles, and they don't get around a lot either. Over the course of a year, we've been able to record the same frog at the same location.

These species rely on other methods to survive. Some are toxic and some are bright.

"They're not jumping around a lot, and when they do, they're probably not that worried about landing, because they're doing it out of desperation." They get more benefits from being small than they do from being unable to land.

Their work was published in a journal.