Sphaerodactylus ariasae

Sphaerodactylus ariasae, commonly called the Jaragua sphaero or the Jaragua dwarf gecko, is the smallest species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae.

Sphaerodactylus ariasae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Sphaerodactylidae
Genus: Sphaerodactylus
Species:
S. ariasae
Binomial name
Sphaerodactylus ariasae
Distribution of Sphaerodactylus ariasae. Inferred range in red.

Description

Sphaerodactylus ariasae is the world's smallest known reptile. The second-smallest is S. parthenopion, native to the British Virgin Islands. The Jaragua sphaero measures 14-18 mm (0.55-0.71 in)[3] from the snout to the base of the tail and can fit on a US 25-cent coin. It has an average weight of just 0.13 g (0.00455 of an ounce). By contrast, the blue whale is 1,600 times longer and more than 1 billion times heavier.[4]

Geographic range

The geographic range of S. ariasae is believed to be limited to Jaragua National Park, in the southernmost tip of the Barahona Peninsula, in the extreme southwest of the Dominican Republic and nearby forested Beata Island on Hispaniola.[2]

Gravid female.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of S. ariasae is the leaf litter of the forest floor of dry forests with limestone substratum.[1]

Reproduction

S. ariasae is oviparous.[5]

Taxonomy

S. ariasae 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.[6]

Etymology

The Jaragua sphaero's binomial name was chosen in honor of herpetologist Yvonne Arias,[5] the leader of the Dominican conservation organization Grupo Jaragua, which was instrumental in securing the environmental protection of Jaragua National Park.[7][8]

See also

References
  1. Landestoy M, Inchaustegui S, Hedges B (2016). Sphaerodactylus ariasae (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T75605318A115485387. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T75605318A75607639.en. Downloaded on 26 February 2019.
  2. 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. (Sphaerodactylus ariasae, new species).
  3. Caribbean Journal of Science. University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. doi:10.18475/cjos.
  4. Dibben, Nicola (2002). "Interpreting Popular Music. By David Brackett. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. xv + 260 pp". Popular Music. 21 (1). doi:10.1017/s026114300226208x. ISSN 0261-1430.
  5. Sphaerodactylus ariasae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 2015-02-21.
  6. "Tiny gecko is 'world's smallest'". BBC. 3 December 2001. Sci/tech News. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  7. "World's Smallest Reptile Discovered in Caribbean". Conservation.org (Press release). Conservation International. 3 December 2001. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
  8. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Sphaerodactylus ariasae, p. 11).
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