News Release

World’s smallest reptile discovered in Caribbean

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Conservation International

Washington, D.C. – Dec 3, 2001 -- The world’s smallest reptile, a 16-millimeter lizard, has been discovered in the Caribbean islands by Pennsylvania State University Evolutionary Biologist Blair Hedges and University of Puerto Rico Biologist Richard Thomas. The discovery will be published in this month’s Caribbean Journal of Science. The Jaragua Sphaero, or dwarf gecko, is believed to exist only on Beata Island and nearby areas in the Dominican Republic’s Jaragua National Park.

The discovery of the lizard is just one of several miniature species found in the Caribbean. The world’s smallest bird, the Bee Hummingbird, is found only in Cuba. The tiny hummingbird measures barely five centimeters long, hardly twice the size of a penny. The Northern Hemisphere’s smallest frog, a one-centimeter long frog known as Monte Iberia Eleuth, ties as the world’s smallest frog. The world’s smallest snake, the Lesser Antillean Threadsnake, is so thin it could slither though a pencil if the lead were removed. The snake is found in the West Indies.

Species of extreme size, both smallest and largest, often evolve on islands, where they face fewer competitor species than they would on the continents.

The Jaragua Sphaero, which measures about three quarters of an inch from snout to the base of the tail, is similar in size to a lizard endemic to the British Virgin Islands, and also ties for the world’s smallest amniote, a group consisting of all mammals, reptiles and birds.

Although much is still unknown about the diversity of life in the Caribbean, Michael Smith, Senior Research Fellow for the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International, says we have enough information to appreciate its critical importance. “The Caribbean is one of the richest places on Earth in terms of unique species,” he says, “but they are extremely threatened. If the Caribbean continues to lose species at the current rate, then one of the world’s most distinctive natural systems will be devastated in our lifetimes.” According to Conservation International President Russell Mittermeier, “The Caribbean has one of the highest concentrations of endemic species on Earth.” Many biologists believe it ranks as one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots, defined as the 25 places in the world that represent a combined 1.4 percent of the Earth’s landmass, but which contain a staggering 60 percent of all terrestrial species diversity.

Rapid population growth is a major threat to the Caribbean’s species. “If you add all of the islands together, you would have a landmass about the size of Oregon,” says Smith. “But if you add their populations, you would have as many people as the states of Oregon, Washington and California combined. Imagine the effects of concentrating so many people in these small islands, and it becomes clear why so many species are threatened.”

Agricultural practices and barriers to regional cooperation between the Caribbean islands also play a role in the loss of biodiversity in the region, as does lack of access to centralized biological data within the Caribbean.

“Our discovery illustrates that we still don’t know everything about the Earth’s species, even in areas that are very close to the United States,” says Blair Hedges, who discovered the lizard. “We did not even know the species existed, although the area has been studied by biologists for several hundred years.”

The Jaragua Sphaero (scientific name: Sphaerodactylus ariasae) is named in honor of Yvonne Arias, who heads the Dominican conservation organization Grupo Jaragua. Arias, a herpetologist, is respected as a leading voice for preserving Caribbean biodiversity. Grupo Jaragua was formed to advocate protection of Jaragua National Park, on the island of Hispanola. She was instrumental in getting the people who already lived on that land to preserve it; today, residents of the park are playing a major role in running it on their own. Grupo Jaragua is an example of the several new conservation organizations working to protect the region’s biodiversity.

###

Conservation International (CI) was founded in 1987 to conserve Earth’s living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. CI, a field-based organization headquartered in Washington, DC works in more than 30 countries on four continents, drawing upon a unique array of scientific, economic, awareness building and policy tools to help people find economic alternatives without harming their natural environments. CI employs more than 1,000 employees worldwide, most of whom are residents of the countries in which they work.


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.