Active on the ground during the day, Brookesia micra roosts at night in low vegetation, around five to ten centimetres off the ground (1). Although difficult to locate, the species does not move at all at night, thereby proving easy to capture (4).
Species from the Brookesia genus are unusual among chameleons in using their tail as an extra limb. Grasping branches is difficult for the diminutive Brookesia species and so they use the curled-down tip of their tail to provide added stability. X-rays of Brookesia tails have shown 20 vertebrae compared to the usual 50 of larger chameleons. They have also revealed that the tendons underneath the tail are well developed, enabling the use of the tail as a supportive ‘leg’ (6).
Scientists have said that Brookesia micra may be as small as a vertebrate with complex eyes can get, although it is impossible to tell for sure (4). It is also feasible that Brookesia micra may be exhibiting ‘island dwarfism’, a phenomenon whereby a species adapts over time to being restricted to a particular habitat, for example an island, by becoming smaller. The effect may be more extreme in the case of Brookesia micra, as dwarf chameleons may have originally evolved on the island of Madagascar, causing Brookesia micra to become even more miniscule when isolated on the smaller island of Nosy Hara (5) (7).