"Tell me this...what is the smallest"

The smallest mammal in the world is a bat from Thailand, Kitli’s Hog-nosed Bat, Craseonycteris thonglongyai, being only 2.9-3.3 cm or 1.14-1.3 inches long and weighing a mere 1.7-2 g or 0.06 - 0.07oz this bat is well smaller than many insects and snails.

In a close 2nd place, the Pygmy or Savi’s White-toothed Shrew Suncus etruscus weighs in at 1.5 - 2.5 grams or 0.05 - 0.09oz and isdefinitelyy the smallest land mammal on record.

The Bumblebee Bat, or Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat, (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is the worlds smallest mammal. This is when you define smallest as ’the smallest mammal by length’ as opposed to ’the smallest mammal by weight’. Its length ranges from 2.9 to 3.3 centimeters and it weighs between 1.7 and 2 grams. It lives in Thailand in small holes or in crevices formed by stalactites in caves and is most active at dusk, where it flies above the bamboo and teak trees to feed on insects, either in flight or on the trees. Bumblebee bats were first discovered in 1973 by Kitti Thonglongya. Their major threat is deforestation by the teak logging industry.

Picture by Tim Menzies, licensed under GPL

The Hog-nosed bat, kitti’s hog-nosed bat is listed as Endangered (EN), considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild, on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Facts about the bumblee bat or hog-nosed bat

The Bumblebee Bat or perhaps more correctly Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat, (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is the worlds smallest species of bat at 29-33 mm in length and a weight of 2 grams (about as much as a dime).(Full text)

In fact, the bumblebee bat ~ Craseonycteris thonglongyai ~ is the family’s only member.(Full text)

Just 3cm long and a featherweight 2 gms, Craseonycteris thonglongyai is found only in a few caves in Thailand.(Full text)

   The Bumblebee bat Craseonycteris thonglongyai is about 3 cm.(Full text)

Small but Fussy: A Rare Cave Bat Kitti’s bat (also known as the bumblebee bat), Craseonycteris thonglongyai, is the world’s smallest mammal, weighing barely 2 grams and with a length of only 3 centimeters.(Full text)

  For instance, the Kitti’s hog-nosed or bumblebee bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is the smallest mammal in the world, measuring about 3 cm in body length, 8 cm in wing span, and weighing 2 g.(Full text)

Rhinopomatidae Craseonycteridae The Bumblebee Bat or perhaps more correctly Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat, (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is the worlds smallest species of bat at 29-33 mm in length and a weight of 2 grams (about as much as a dime).(Full text)

Species: thonglongyai The Bumblebee Bat or perhaps more correctly Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat, (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is the worlds smallest species of bat at 29-33 mm in length and a weight of 2 grams (about as much as a dime).(Full text)

The Bumblee Bat is the smallest bat.(Full text)

ITIS TNS Google MSN Craseonycteris thonglongyai, the hog-nosed bat, is the smallest mammal in the world.(Full text)

The Kitti Hog-Nosed bat is one of the many kinds of bats.(Full text)

The Kitti’s hog-nosed bat is the world’s smallest mammal, even smaller than a shrew.(Full text)

The Kitti’s hog-nosed bat is the world’s smallest mammal, even smaller than a shrew.(Full text)

The smallest bat, the Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, is also the smallest known mammal.(Full text)

(The smallest species – the Kitti’s hog-nosed bat – is about the size of a bumblebee and is thought to be the worlds smallest mammal!(Full text)

  Also the famous Kitti’s hog-nosed bat is hunted to sell to tourists for mementoes (Stewart-Cox 1995:124).(Full text)

It's a tie between Thailand's Bumblebee Bat,(Craseonycteris thonglongyai ), and the Savi's Pygmy Shrew,( Suncus etruscus). The shrew is slightly longer than the bat, but the bat weighs less. The bat is from Thailand as is the Shrew, although the shrew is also found in China and Southern Asia.

 http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mammal/smallest.shtml  This site has a lot of information about these animals.  There is far too much to retype so I thought this might be the easiest way to link you to it. I think it is remarkable that the Shrew can crawl through the holes of large earthworms. They are very cute aren't they.  I couldn't keep one as a pet.  I'd be the sort of person that would take it out for a walk sitting in a pocket, come home, do the laundry and forget it was there.  And you certainly couldn't get enough fluff off of them to knit into a decent cardigan, you'd get shearers cramp after only half a dozen of them.

Supposedly the smallest living mammal is this little Bumblebee bat but I had heard years ago that it was the little mouse (actually a Shrew I guess) >>

http://encarta.msn.com/media_461519670/Kitti%E2%80%99s_Hog-Nosed_Bat.html

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mammal/smallest.shtml

Here's a picture of the bat:

Here's a picture of the mouse:

This little guy is a resident of Thailand, and gets its name because he really is about the size of a bumblebee. (altogether now...awwwww) He weighs about the same as a dime (can you imagine?). It beats out the shrew for the Tiny Title because of its itty-bitty skull size (many shrews actually weigh less).

This little guy is also amazing because he can hover in the air just like a hummingbird, thanks to his itsy-bitsy size.

Here's the sad news though - he's very enangered. As of 1982, there were only 160 or so known to still exist - thanks mainly to teak forestation. Don't buy teak furniture! You're overpaying! And you're killing these adorable little ragamuffins!