At the lower size limit in amniote vertebrates : a new diminutive lizard from the West Indies

Abstract

A new species of gekkonid lizard is described from Isla Beata and adjacent areas of Hispaniola, West Indies. Sphaerodactylus ariasae, sp. nov. is most closely related to S. streptophorus, from which it differs in size, color pattern, scalation, and snout shape. Its most distinctive feature is the very small adult body size, averaging only 16 (14-18) mm snout-to-vent-length. The new species and S. parthenopion (British Virgin Islands) are the smallest of the approximately 23,000 species of amniote vertebrates.