Sphaerodactylus richardsonii

Sphaerodactylus richardsonii, also known commonly as Richardson's least gecko or the northern Jamaica banded sphaero, is a small species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae. The species is endemic to Jamaica.[2]

Sphaerodactylus richardsonii
S. richardsonii, drawing by E.N. Fischer, from Barbour, 1921
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Sphaerodactylidae
Genus:	Sphaerodactylus
Species:	S. richardsonii
Binomial name
Sphaerodactylus richardsonii Gray, 1845

Etymology

The specific name, richardsonii, is in honor of Scottish naturalist John Richardson.[3]

The subspecific name, gossei, is in honor of English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse.[4]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]

• Sphaerodactylus richardsonii gossei Grant, 1939
• Sphaerodactylus richardsonii richardsonii Gray, 1845

Habitat

The preferred habitats of S. richardsonii are forest and shrubland.[1]

Description

For its genus, S. richardson is stockily-built and long. Adults may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 4 cm (1.6 in) and a tail length of 3.5 cm (1.4 in). All the dorsal scales are large, keeled, and imbricate (overlapping). There is no middorsal granular row.[5]

Reproduction

S. richardsonii is oviparous.[2]

References

1. Hedges B, Wilson BS (2016). "Sphaerodactylus richardsoni (errata version published in 2017)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T75605860A115490300. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T75605860A75607894.en. Downloaded on 06 March 2019.
2. Sphaerodactylus richardsonii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 24 February 2019.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Sphaerodactylus richardsonii, p. 221).
4. Grant (1939).
5. Barbour (1921).

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 (1939). "Two New Sphaerodactyls from Jamaica". Copeia 1939 (1): 7-13. ("Sphaerodactylus richardsoni [sic] 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 [sic]", 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. ISBN 978-0813010496. ("Sphaerodactylus richardsoni [sic]", p. 527).
• Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. ("Sphaerodactylus richardsoni [sic]", 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. ISBN 978-9004194083. ("Sphaerodactylus richardsoni [sic]").