Fantastic least gecko

Fantastic least gecko
1921 illustration of specimen from Guadeloupe
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Family: Gekkonidae
Subfamily: Gekkoninae
Genus: Sphaerodactylus
Species: S. fantasticus
Binomial name
Sphaerodactylus fantasticus
A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1836
Subspecies

see text

The fantastic least gecko (Sphaerodactylus fantasticus) is a species of gecko found in the Caribbean, on the islands of Dominica, Montserrat, and the Guadeloupe archipelago. Nine subspecies have been described, each of which has a very restricted range and varies in coloration and other physical characteristics.

On Dominica, the distribution of the subspecies S. fantasticus fuga is limited to the western coast (Malhotra and Thorpe 1999). These dwarf geckos have recently been found to be genetically similar to one population on Guadeloupe, suggesting that they are recent colonizers of Dominica (Malhotra and Thorpe 1999; Thorpe et al. 2008).

Subspecies

References

  1. ↑ Schwartz, Albert and Richard Thomas. 1975. A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. pp. 150-151.
  • Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S.; Hypolite, Eric; James, Arlington (2007). "A report on the status of the herpetofauna of the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies". Appl. Herpetol. 4: 177–94. doi:10.1163/157075407780681365. 
  • Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. Macmillan Education Ltd. pp. 27, 35, 37, 75, 82–83, 86–87. ISBN 0-333-69141-5. 
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