The Bay Island least gecko (''Sphaerodactylus rosaurae'') is a
species of
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
in the
family Sphaerodactylidae. The species is
endemic to the
Bay Islands in
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''rosaurae'', refers to
Lord Moyne's yacht ''
Rosaura'',
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Sphaerodactylus rosaurae'', p. 226).] from which the
holotype was collected.
[
]
Habitat
The preferred habitat of ''S. rosaurae'' is forest at altitudes of .
Reproduction
''S. rosaurae'' is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
*Frazier, Julius; Pollock, Nick; Holding, Matt; Montgomery, Chad E. (2011). "Geographic Distribution: ''Sphaerodactylus rosaurae'' (Bay Island least gecko)". ''Herpetological Review'' 42 (3): 391.
* Köhler G (2000). ''Reptilien und Amphibien Mittelamerikas, Band 1: Krokodile, Schildkröten, Echsen''. ''Middle American Reptiles and Amphibiens, Volume 1: Crocodilians, Turtles, Lizards'' Offenbach, Germany: Herpeton Verlag. 158 pp. . (''Sphaerodactylus rosaurae'', p. 51). (in German).
* McCranie JR (2018). "The Lizards, Crocodiles, and Turtles of Honduras. Systematics, Distribution, and Conservation". ''Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' 15 (1): 1–129.
* Parker HW (1940). "Undescribed Anatomical Structures and New Species of Reptiles and Amphibians". ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Eleventh Series'' 5: 257–274. (''Sphaerodactylus rosaurae'', new species, p. 264).
* Wilson LD, Hahn DE (1973). "The Herpetofauna of the Islas de la Bahía, Honduras". ''Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences'' 17 (2): 93–150. (''Sphaerodactylus rosaurae'', pp. 106–109, Figures 2A-2D).
Sphaerodactylus
Reptiles of Honduras
Endemic fauna of Honduras
Reptiles described in 1940
Taxa named by Hampton Wildman Parker
{{Sphaerodactylus-stub