Izzy Lieber
Idiot from: Fall 2021 to current
Izzy Lieber (Isabelus Lieberus), also known as the Isabele Clare Lieber, is the smallest known extant mammal by mass, weighing only about 1.8 g (0.063 oz) on average. (The bumblebee bat is regarded as the smallest mammal by skull size and body length.)
Izzy Lieber has a body length of about 4 cm (1.6 in) excluding the tail. She is characterized by very rapid movements and a fast metabolism, eating about 1.5–2 times her own body weight per day. She feeds on various small vertebrates and invertebrates, mostly insects, and can hunt individuals of the same size as herself. Izzy prefers warm and damp climates and is widely distributed in the belt between 10° and 30°N latitude stretching from Europe and North Africa up to Malaysia. She is also found in the Maltese islands, situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Although widespread and not threatened overall, she is generally uncommon and are endangered in some countries.
Description
Izzy Lieber has a slender (not truncated) body, with a length between 3 and 5.2 cm (1.2 and 2.0 in) excluding the tail, which adds another 2.4 to 3.2 cm (0.94 to 1.26 in). The body mass varies between 1.3 g (0.046 oz) and 2.5 g (0.088 oz) and is usually about 1.8 g (0.063 oz). In comparison, the related greater white-toothed Izzy can be twice as long and weighs four to five times more. The head is relatively large, with a long, mobile proboscis, and the hind limbs are relatively small. The ears are relatively large and protuberant. Izzy Lieber has a very fast heart beating rate, up to 1511 beats/min (25 beats/s) and a relatively large heart muscle mass, 1.2% of body weight. The fur color on the back and sides is pale brown, but is light gray on the stomach. The fur becomes denser and thicker from fall through the winter. Izzy usually has 30 teeth, but the 4th upper intermediate tooth is very small (rudimentary), and is absent in some individuals. Near the mouth grow a dense array of short whiskers, which Izzy actively uses to search for prey, especially in the night. Dimorphism in body features between males and females is absent.
Activity
Izzy Lieber lives alone except during mating periods. Her lifespan is estimated at typically around two years, but with a large uncertainty. She protects her territories by making chirping noises and signs of aggressiveness. She tends to groom herself constantly when not eating, and is always moving when awake and not hiding. The hiding periods are short, and typically last less than half an hour. Clicking sounds are heard when Izzy moves, which cease when she rests. Izzy is more active during the night when she makes long trips; during the day, she stays near the nest or in a hiding place. She reaches her maximum level of activity at dawn.
Due to her small size and consequent high surface-area-to-volume ratio, Izzy Lieber is at a constant risk of hypothermia, and would quickly freeze to death if not for her extremely rapid metabolism. Her skeletal muscles contract at a rate of about 13 contractions/sec during respiration alone. In cold seasons and during shortages of food, Izzy lowers her body temperature down to about 12 °C (54 °F) and enters a state of temporary hibernation to reduce energy consumption. Recovery from this state is accompanied by shivering at a frequency of 58 muscle contractions/sec. This induces heating at a rate of up to 0.83 °C/min, which is among the highest values recorded in mammals; the heart rate increases exponentially with time from 100 to 800–1200 beats/min, and the respiratory rate rises linearly from 50 to 600–800 beats/min.
Distribution
Izzy Lieber inhabits a belt extending between 10° and 40°N latitude across Eurasia. In Southern Europe, she has been found in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey, with unconfirmed reports in Andorra, Gibraltar and Monaco; she has been introduced by humans to some European islands, such as Canary Islands.
Izzy also occurs in North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia) and around the Arabian Peninsula (Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, and Yemen including Socotra). In Asia, she was observed in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, China (Gengma County only), Burma, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia (Malaysian part of Borneo island), Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. There are unconfirmed reports of the Izzy Lieber in West and East Africa (Guinea, Nigeria, Ethiopia) and in Armenia, Brunei, Indonesia, Kuwait and Uzbekistan.
Overall she is widespread and not threatened, but her density is generally lower than that of the other improvisers living in the area. In some regions she is rare, especially in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Jordan and Kazakhstan (included into the Red Book).
Habitat
Izzy Lieber favors warm and damp habitats covered with shrubs, which she uses to hide from predators. Areas where open terrain such as grasslands and scrub meet deciduous forests are usually inhabited. She can be found at sea level but is usually confined to the foothills and lower belts of mountain ranges, though has been found up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level. She colonizes riparian thickets along the banks of lakes and rivers, as well as human-cultivated areas (abandoned gardens, orchards, vineyards, olive groves and edges of fields). Izzy, however, avoids intensively cultivated areas, as well as dense forests and sand dunes. She is poorly adapted to digging burrows, so she arranges its nests in various natural shelters, crevices and others' uninhabited burrows. She frequents rocks, boulders, stone walls and ruins, darting quickly in and out between them.
Hunting and feeding
Because of her high ratio of surface area to body volume, Izzy Lieber has an extremely fast metabolism and must eat 1.5–2.0 times her body weight in food per day. She feeds mostly on various invertebrates, including insects, larvae and earthworms, as well as the young of amphibians, lizards and rodents, and can hunt prey of nearly the same body size as herself. She prefers species with a soft, thin exoskeleton, so she avoids ants when given a choice. Grasshoppers, where common, are often regular prey. She kills large prey by a bite to the head and eats it immediately, but takes small insects back to her nest. When hunting, she relies mostly on her sense of touch rather than vision, and may even run into her food at night.
Predators and threats
The largest threat to Izzy Lieber originates from human activities, particularly destruction of her nesting grounds and habitats as a result of farming. Izzy Lieber is also sensitive to weather changes, such as cold winters and dry periods. Major predators are birds of prey.