Question

What is the smallest mammal?

Answer 1

Hint: It is less than the weight of a dime and eats twice their own body weight every single day. It feeds on insects including spiders, small flies, mosquitoes, beetles. They hunt their prey through a technique called echolocation. These endangered species live primarily in limestone caves. They are found in Thailand and Burma.

Complete answer:
The smallest mammal in the world is the bumblebee bat or Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, also called the bumblebee bat due to their tiny size with a body no bigger than a large bumble-bee. It is the smallest known extant mammal by mass, weighing only about $$2$$g on average. The bumblebee bat is regarded as the smallest mammal by body length. The bumblebee bat is $$80$$ million times lighter than the largest mammal, the blue whale. Echolocation helps them hunt their prey. It is a technique in which bats use high pitched sound which produces echo and the echo bounces off the object to their ears. Through this they can determine the shape, size and kind of object present around them. These bats are mainly active at dawn and dusk. They have a lifespan of around $$5-10$$ years. The tiny bat can only be found in a few select limestone caves on the Khwae Noi River, Kanchanaburi Province, south-west Thailand.

Note:
They are thought to be at the risk of extinction. Limestone extraction and human disturbances have led to their destruction and habitat loss. IUCN has listed them endangered. The current population of Kitti’s hog-nosed bat is around $$6600$$.