Sphaerodactylus ariasae
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 one of the world's two smallest known reptiles. The other is S. parthenopion, native to the British Virgin Islands. The Jaragua sphaero measures from the snout to the base of the tail and can fit on a US 25-cent coin.The geographic range of S. ariasae is believed to be limited to Jaragua National Park in the extreme southwest of the Dominican Republic and nearby forested Beata Island and in Puerto Rico. It can also be found in the southernmost tip of the Barahona Peninsula.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.
