Sphaerodactylus ariasae
| Sphaerodactylus ariasae | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Lacertilia |
| Family: | Gekkonidae |
| Subfamily: | Gekkoninae |
| Genus: | Sphaerodactylus |
| Species: | S. ariasae |
| Binomial name | |
| Sphaerodactylus ariasae Hedges & Thomas, 2001[1] | |
Sphaerodactylus ariasae, the Jaragua sphaero or dwarf gecko, is a very small Gekkonidae species in the Sphaerodactylus genus. It is one of the world's two smallest known reptiles (the other is the S. parthenopion, native to the British Virgin Islands). The Jaragua sphaero measures 16–18 mm from the snout to the base of the tail and can fit on a US 25-cent coin. Its range is believed to be limited to Jaragua National Park in the extreme southwest of the Dominican Republic and the nearby forested Beata Island.
The species was first described by Blair Hedges, a Pennsylvania State University evolutionary biologist, and Richard Thomas, a University of Puerto Rico biologist, in the December 2001 issue of the Caribbean Journal of Science.[2]
The Jaragua sphaero's binomial name was chosen in honor of herpetologist Yvonne Arias,[3] the leader of the Dominican conservation organization Grupo Jaragua, which was instrumental in securing the environmental protection of Jaragua National Park.[4]
References
- ↑ Hedges, S. Blair; Thomas, Richard (2001). "At the Lower Size Limit in Amniote Vertebrates: A New Diminutive Lizard from the West Indies" (PDF). Caribbean Journal of Science 37 (3-4): 168–173.
- ↑ "Tiny gecko is 'world's smallest'". BBC. 3 December 2001. Sci/tech News. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- ↑ Sphaerodactylus ariasae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 2015-02-21.
- ↑ "World's Smallest Reptile Discovered in Caribbean". Conservation.org (Press release). Conservation International. 3 December 2001. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
External links
Data related to Sphaerodactylus ariasae at Wikispecies- National Geographic: Smallest Known Lizard Found in Caribbean
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