Jaragua Sphaero

Jaragua Sphaero

Taxobox
name = Jaragua Sphaero
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Sauria
familia = Gekkonidae
genus = "Sphaerodactylus"
species = "S. ariasae"
binomial = "Sphaerodactylus ariasae"
binomial_authority = Hedges & Thomas, 2001

The Jaragua Sphaero ("Sphaerodactylus ariasae") is a gecko species in the "Sphaerodactylus" (dwarf gecko) 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 mm from the snout to the base of the tail and can fit on a quarter. 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 ("Isla Beata").

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".

The Jaragua Sphaero's binomial name was 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.

References

* [http://www.conservation.org/xp/news/press_releases/2001/120301.xml "World's Smallest Reptile Discovered in Caribbean: Tiny Lizard Fits on the Face of a U.S. Quarter"]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sphaerodactylus ariasae —   Jaragua sphaero Clasificación científica Reino: Animalia …   Wikipedia Español

  • Smallest organisms — The smallest organism found on Earth can be measured using a variety of different methods, and can be defined as the smallest by volume, mass, height, or length. Because there is some dispute over what the definition of life is and what entities… …   Wikipedia

  • Gecko — This article is about the type of animal. For other uses, see Gecko (disambiguation). Gecko Temporal range: 50 Ma Recent, putatively as early as 110 Ma[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Reptile — Taxobox fossil range = Carboniferous Recent name = Reptiles image width = 251px image caption = A Rhinoceros Iguana, Cyclura cornuta regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata subphylum = Vertebrata classis = Reptilia classis authority = Laurenti, 1768… …   Wikipedia

  • Squamata — This article is about the Squamata order of reptiles. For the Roman scale armour, see Lorica squamata. Scaled reptiles Temporal range: Late Triassic recent …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”