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

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.

Etymology

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

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

Subspecies

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

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

Habitat

The preferred habitats of S. richardsonii are forest and shrubland.

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.

Reproduction

S. richardsonii is oviparous.

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 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 ", 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 ", 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 ", 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 ").

• v
• t
• e

• IUCN Red List endangered species
• Sphaerodactylus
• Endemic fauna of Jamaica
• Reptiles of Jamaica
• Reptiles described in 1845
• Taxa named by John Edward Gray
• Sphaerodactylus stubs