Australia (continent) Australia (continent) The continent of Australia, sometimes known in technical contexts by the names Sahul, Australinea or Meganesia to distinguish it from the country of Australia, consists of the land masses which sit on Australia's continental shelf. This includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, and the island of New Guinea (comprising Papua New Guinea and two Indonesian provinces). Situated in the geographical region of Oceania, it is the smallest of the seven traditional continents in the English conception. The continent lies on a continental shelf overlain by shallow seas which divide it into several landmasses—the Arafura Sea and Torres Strait between mainland
Smallest organisms "Megaphragma caribea" from Guadeloupe, measuring 170 μm long, is another contender for smallest known insect in the world. Beetles of the tribe Nanosellini are all less than 1 mm long; the smallest confirmed specimen is of "Scydosella musawasensis" at 325 μm long; a few other nanosellines are reportedly smaller, in historical literature, but none of these records have been confirmed using accurate modern tools. These are among the tiniest non-parasitic insects. The western pygmy blue ("Brephidium exilis") is one of the smallest butterflies in the world. The smallest sea cucumber, and also the smallest echinoderm, is "Psammothuria ganapati", a synaptid