Continent Continent A continent is one of several very large landmasses of the world. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, they are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Geologically, the continents largely correspond to areas of continental crust that are found on the continental plates. However, some areas of continental crust are regions covered with water not usually included in the list of continents. Zealandia is one such area (see submerged continents below). Islands are frequently grouped with
Smallest organisms smallest crocodilian is the Cuvier's dwarf caiman ("Paleosuchus palpebrosus") from northern and central South America. It reaches up to in length. One of the smallest snakes known is the recently discovered Barbados threadsnake ("Leptotyphlops carlae"). Adults average about long, which is only about twice as long as the hatchlings. The Common blind snake("Indotyphlops braminus") measures long, uncommonly to long. The smallest known dinosaur (excluding modern birds) is "Anchiornis", a genus of feathered dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Late Jurassic Period 160 to 155 million years ago. Adult specimens range from long, and the weight has