Endangered
Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero
Sphaerodactylus parthenopion
Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero is a dwarf gecko in the family Sphaerodactylidae — Sphaerodactylus parthenopion, recorded as Endangered.
Appearance
The Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero is one of the smallest known amniotes (that includes 23,000 species of reptiles, birds, and mammals), with an average body size (measured as the snout–vent length or SVL) of 18 mm (0.71 in) and a maximum body mass of 0.15 g (0.0053 oz), but ranging as low as 0.043 g (0.0015 oz) and averaging 0.117 g (0.0041 oz). Typically, the species has a deep brown colouration on the dorsal side and legs, often with a scattering or a fine pattern of interconnected darker scales. The species has a preocular transverse bar (a line of coloured scales in front of the eyes at the base of the snout), although this can be hard to see in some individuals.
The British Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero gecko, Virgin Gorda least gecko, or Virgin Islands dwarf gecko is a gecko and also one of the smallest terrestrial vertebrates.
The only known amniote that is smaller is the closely related S. Ariasae, that measures 16 mm (0.63 in) and weighs a maximum of 0.14 g (0.0049 oz).
Range and habitat
Originally found only on the island of Virgin Gorda, it has since been reported on Tortola and Mosquito Island. Its range is sometimes estimated to encompass the entire British Virgin Islands, although the original expedition by Thomas did not find any specimens on Tortola, Anegada, or other smaller islands, nor in the United States Virgin Islands of Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, and Saint John. Its distribution is considered unusual because despite being separated from its closest relative, S. Nicholsi in Puerto Rico, another species, the Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur), has a geographic range that includes both islands, yet it has not diverged.
It has only been found on three of the British Virgin Islands: Virgin Gorda, Tortola, and Moskito Island (also spelled "Mosquito Island"). It was discovered in 1964 and is suspected to be a close relative of Sphaerodactylus nicholsi, a dwarf sphaero from the nearby island of Puerto Rico.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Life history
Its tail will regenerate when broken off.
In crisis
Little is known about its population size or its biology. Too little data has been gathered to assess the population size and trend of the Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero. In early 2011, the Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero gained international attention when Sir Richard Branson announced plans to introduce lemurs—endangered primates from Madagascar—to Moskito Island as part of a captive breeding project for conservation purposes.
In particular, people feared that the lemurs would wipe out the local population of Virgin Islands dwarf sphaeros, that was referred to as "one of the world's rarest lizards", because of the lemurs' "aggressive, omnivorous" behaviour.
Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero, Wikidata item Q2286634. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
