The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word PROTOZOIC
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
P
R
O
T
O
Z
O
I
C
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "of tiny animals" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case of tiny animals = protozoic.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.