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''Sphaerodactylus richardsonii'', also known commonly as Richardson's least gecko or the northern Jamaica banded sphaero, is a small
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
of
lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia al ...
in the
family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Sphaerodactylidae The Sphaerodactylidae are a family of geckos (Gekkota) distributed in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, as well as in Southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and into Central Asia. The family contains 12 ...
. The species is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
to
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...
.


Etymology

The specific name, ''richardsonii'', is in honor of Scottish naturalist John Richardson. The
subspecific name In zoological nomenclature, a subspecific name is the third part of a trinomen. In zoology there is only one rank below that of species, namely " subspecies". In botanical nomenclature, there are several levels of subspecific names, such as ''v ...
, ''gossei'', is in honor of English naturalist
Philip Henry Gosse Philip Henry Gosse FRS (; 6 April 1810 – 23 August 1888), known to his friends as Henry, was an English naturalist and populariser of natural science, an early improver of the seawater aquarium, and a painstaking innovator in the study of m ...
.


Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the
nominotypical subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...
. *'' Sphaerodactylus richardsonii gossei'' *'' Sphaerodactylus richardsonii richardsonii''


Habitat

The preferred
habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s of ''S. richardsonii'' are
forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
and
shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ...
.


Description

For its
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
, ''S. richardson'' is stockily-built and long. Adults may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of and a tail length of . All the
dorsal scales In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publis ...
are large, keeled, and imbricate (overlapping). There is no middorsal granular row. Barbour (1921).


Reproduction

''S. richardsonii'' is
oviparous 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), a ...
.


References


Further reading

* Barbour T (1921). "''Sphaerodactylus'' ". ''Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College'' 47 (3): 215-282 + Plates 1-26. ("''Sphaerodactylus richardsonii'' ", pp. 252–253 + Plate V, figure 3; Plate XIX, figures 1-4). * Boulenger GA (1885). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Geckonidæ ...'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. ("''Sphærodactylus richardsonii'' ", p. 227 + Plate XVIII, figure 6). *
Grant C Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...
(1939). "Two New Sphaerodactyls from Jamaica". ''Copeia'' 1939 (1): 7-13. ("''Sphaerodactylus richardsoni'' ic''gossei'' ", new subspecies, p. 10). * Gray JE (1845). ''Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp. ("''Sphærodactylus Richardsonii'' ic, new species, pp. 168–169). * Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)''". ''Gekkota'' 2: 28-153. ("''Sphaerodactylus richardsonii'' ", p. 114). (in German). * Schwartz A, Henderson RW (1991). ''Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History''. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press. 720 pp. . ("''Sphaerodactylus richardsoni'' ic, p. 527). *Schwartz A,
Thomas R Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas t ...
(1975). ''A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles''.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as CMNH) is a natural history museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896. Housing some 22 million ...
Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. ("''Sphaerodactylus richardsoni'' ic, p. 160). * Wilson BS (2011). "Conservation of Jamaican amphibians and reptiles". pp. 273–310. ''In'': Hailey A, Wilson BS, Horrocks JA, editors (2011). ''Conservation of Caribbean Island Herpetofaunas Volume 2: Regional Accounts of the West Indies''. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers. 440 pp. . ("''Sphaerodactylus richardsoni'' ic). Sphaerodactylus Endemic fauna of Jamaica Reptiles of Jamaica Reptiles described in 1845 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Sphaerodactylus-stub