Island least gecko

Taxonomy

The island least gecko was first formally described in 1784 as Lacerta sputator by the Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman with its type locality given as Sint Eustatius. This genus was formerly included in the family Gekkonidae but in 1954 Garth Underwood proposed the family Sphaerodactylidae, This family is classified within the infraorder Gekkota the sole extant taxon within the clade Gekkonomorpha of the order Squamata, which includes the lizards and snakes.

Etymology

The island least gecko is the type species of the genus Sphaerodactylus, a combination of the Greek sphaira, meaning "a ball", or sphairion, which means "a little ball", with dactylos, meaning "finger", seemingly an allusion to round tips to the toes. The specific name, sputator, means "spitter" in Latin.

Description

The island least gecko is a relatively large species of Sphaerodactylus with a background colour of light brown marked with white crossbands with brown edges and dark brown blotches or brown longitudinal stripes.

Distribution and habitat

The island least gecko is endemic to the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles, on Anguilla, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy and Sint Eustatius, and their associated satellite islands.

References

References

1. Daltry, J.C.. (2016). "''Sphaerodactylus sputator''".
2. {{NRDB species
3. Albert Schwarz. (1973). "''Sphaerodactylus''". [[University of Texas at Austin]].
4. Russell, Anthony. (2002). "Underwood's classification of the geckos: A 21st century appreciation". Bulletin of the Natural History Museum: Zoology.
5. (2008). "Phylogeny and Systematics of Squamata (Reptilia) Based on Morphology". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.
6. King, W.. (1962). "Systematics of Lesser Antillean lizards of the genus ''Sphaerodactylus''". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum.
7. (2 February 2023). "First official record of Least Gecko on Saba in 60 years". Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance.