Do you know how many kinds of plants and animals there are in the world? Experts(专家)believe there are over 8 million, but right now we only know about 1. 8 million. Scientists are finding new kinds all the time.
In 2019, a team of researchers led by a university professor(教授) named Austin discovered a new kind of animal. They were in
Papua, studying the wide kinds of life of the island country. One day, the researchers were listening to the sounds of frogs(青蛙) at night. Suddenly, they started to hear some very unusual sounds. At first, they couldn't tell where the sounds were coming from, but after some time they realized they were coming from the ground. They started to look carefully among the leaves. They were expecting to find an insect, but what they found surprised them. It was a really tiny frog —just 7 mm long!" This frog has a sound that doesn't sound like a frog at all. It sounds like an insect," said Austin. The frog they discovered was the smallest frog in the world.
Researchers believe that frogs and insects are very important. They help to keep our environment clean. We can also use them to make new medicines.
Researchers all over the world are working very hard to find new plants and animals every day. However, their jobs are getting more and more difficuIt. This 1s because forests where these animals live are quickly disappearing, and the animals are, too.
