Island least gecko

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The island least gecko (Sphaerodactylus sputator) is a species of gecko endemic to the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.

Island least gecko
1921 illustration from St. Kitts
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Sphaerodactylidae
Genus: Sphaerodactylus
Species:
S. sputator
Binomial name
Sphaerodactylus sputator
(Sparrman, 1784)
Synonyms[2]

Geographic range

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S. sputator can be found on Anguilla (and some of its satellites), Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts, Nevis, and Sint Eustatius.

Description

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Populations of S. sputator on Anguilla have a pale pink dorsal surface, with between five and eight pale crossbands on the back. The throat is pale yellow, and the ventral surface is light cream-colored. It has a gold iris, with a yellow canthal line.

On Saint Martin, it has a tan dorsal color, with a pearl-colored ventral surface. The tail is pale yellow to orange, and the iris is bronze-colored.

References

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  1. ^ Daltry, J.C., Dewynter, M. & Powell, R. 2016. Sphaerodactylus sputator (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T75605945A115491165. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T75605945A75607949.en. Downloaded on 07 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Sphaerodactylus sputator ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

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  • 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 sputator, pp. 219–220).
  • Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. Oxford, England: Macmillan Education Ltd. 144 pp. ISBN 0-333-69141-5. (pp. 53, 55–56, 58, 60, 65, 66).
  • 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 sputator, p. 162).
  • Sparrman A (1784). "Lacerta sputator und Lacerta bimaculata, zwey neue Eideren aus Amerika ". Königlich-Schwedischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Neue Abhandlungen aus der Naturlehre Haushaltungkunst und Mechanik 3 (1): 166-169 + Plate IV. (Lacerta sputator, new species, p. 169 + Plate IV, figures 1–3). (in German and Latin).
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