sphaerodactylus ariasae
{{short description|Species of reptile}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Sphaerodactylus arisae.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = 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.
| genus = Sphaerodactylus
| species = ariasae
| authority = Hedges & Thomas, 2001
| range_map = Sphaerodactylus ariasae distribution.png
| range_map_caption = Distribution of Sphaerodactylus ariasae. Inferred range in red.
}}
Sphaerodactylus ariasae, commonly called the Jaragua sphaero or the Jaragua dwarf gecko, is the smallest species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae.
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){{Cite book|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.18475/cjos|title=Caribbean Journal of Science|publisher=University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez|doi=10.18475/cjos}} from the snout to the base of the tail and can fit on a US 25-cent coin. It has an average weight of 0.13 g (0.0045 oz).{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
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.
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of S. ariasae is the leaf litter of the forest floor of dry forests with limestone substratum.
File:Beata island dry forests P5210593.jpg|Habitat of S. ariasae in Beata island. Large trees grow on certain parts of the island, including sinkholes, which are surrounded by xeric scrub.
File:Beata island karst understory P5210597.jpg|Microhabitat of S. ariasae in Beata island, consisting of patches of leaf litter deposited over karstified limestone.
Reproduction
S. ariasae is oviparous.
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.
Etymology
The Jaragua sphaero's binomial name was chosen in honor of herpetologist Yvonne Arias, the leader of the Dominican conservation organization Grupo Jaragua, which was instrumental in securing the environmental protection of Jaragua National Park.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).
See also
References
External links
- {{Wikispecies-inline}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20011204202006/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/12/1203_TVtinylizard.html National Geographic: Smallest Known Lizard Found in Caribbean]
- [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/S_Hedges/publication/228780602_At_the_lower_size_limit_in_Amniote_Vertebrates_a_new_diminutive_lizard_from_the_West_Indies/links/0c960517fccdf14558000000/At-the-lower-size-limit-in-Amniote-Vertebrates-a-new-diminutive-lizard-from-the-West-Indies.pdf At the Lower Size Limit in Aminote Vertebrates: A New Diminutive Lizard from the West Indies]
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Category:Lizards of the Caribbean
Category:Endemic fauna of the Dominican Republic
Category:Reptiles of the Dominican Republic
Category:Reptiles described in 2001