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''Sphaerodactylus ariasae'', commonly called the Jaragua sphaero or the Jaragua dwarf gecko, is the smallest species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae.
National Geographic: Smallest Known Lizard Found in CaribbeanAt the Lower Size Limit in Aminote Vertebrates: A New Diminutive Lizard from the West Indies
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1938610 A Lizards of the Caribbean Endemic fauna of the Dominican Republic Reptiles of the Dominican Republic Reptiles described in 2001 Taxa named by Stephen Blair Hedges Taxa named by Richard Thomas (herpetologist)
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) 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.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.
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of ''S. ariasae'' is the leaf litter of the forest floor of dry forests with limestone substratum.Reproduction
''S. ariasae'' isoviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
.
Taxonomy
''S. ariasae'' was first described by Blair Hedges, aPennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
evolutionary biologist, and Richard Thomas Richard Thomas or Dick Thomas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Dick Thomas (singer) (1915–2003), American singing cowboy and actor
* Richard Thomas (actor) (born 1951), American actor
* Richard Thomas (author) (born 1967), Americ ...
, a University of Puerto Rico biologist, in the December 2001 issue of the ''Caribbean Journal of Science
The ''Caribbean Journal of Science'' is a triannual peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal publishing articles, research notes, and book reviews related to science in the Caribbean, with an emphasis on botany, zoology, ecology, conservation b ...
''.
Etymology
The Jaragua sphaero'sbinomial name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
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. . (''Sphaerodactylus ariasae'', p. 11).
References
External links
*National Geographic: Smallest Known Lizard Found in Caribbean
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1938610 A Lizards of the Caribbean Endemic fauna of the Dominican Republic Reptiles of the Dominican Republic Reptiles described in 2001 Taxa named by Stephen Blair Hedges Taxa named by Richard Thomas (herpetologist)