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Phyllodactylus wirshingi KERSTER & SMITH, 1955

IUCN Red List - Phyllodactylus wirshingi - Near Threatened, NT
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Higher TaxaPhyllodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Puerto Rican Leaf-toed Gecko 
SynonymPhyllodactylus wirshingi KERSTER & SMITH 1955: 229
Phyllodactylus wirshingi wirshingi — SCHWARTZ 1979
Phyllodactylus wirshingi — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 461
Phyllodactylus wirshingi — KLUGE 1993
Phyllodactylus wirshingi — RÖSLER 2000: 105
Phyllodactylus wirshingi — WEISS & HEDGES 2007 
DistributionPuerto Rico, Isla Caja de Muertos.

Type locality: Isla Caja de Muertos, Puerto Rico.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: INHS (= UIMNH) 37740 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 768 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentFor illustrations see Grant, 1932; Kerster and Smith, 1955; Rivero, 1978.

Based on mtDNA sequence differences WEISS & HEDGES 2007 elevated the (allopatric) subspecies of P. wirshingi to full species status.

Habitat: limestone cliffs and boulders, especially the latter which have large flakes or are creviced. A large female (ASFSV 5753) was taken during the day in a pile of Cocos fronds on a sandy substrate, and two specimens (ASFS V5656-57) taken on a paved road through the above habitat at 2200 hr. 
EtymologyNamed after Juan A. "Tito" Wirshing (d. 1967), who collected the holotype in 1953. He seems to have been a wealthy man, as he kept the Isla Caja de Muerto as a private zoological reserve (1954-1967). 
References
  • Bauer, A.M., and Russell, A.P. 2003. Phyllodactylus wirshingi. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 770: 1-4 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Grant, C. 1932. A genus of gecko new to the Greater Antilles. J. Dept. Agric. Puerto Rico 16 (3): 335-37.
  • Kerster, H. W. and H. M. Smith. 1955. The identity of the Puerto Rican species of Phyllodactylus (Reptilia: Squamata). Herpetologica 11: 229-232 - get paper here
  • Nielsen, S. V, Daza, J. D., Pinto, B. J., & Gamble, T. 2019. ZZ/ZW Sex Chromosomes in the Endemic Puerto Rican Leaf-Toed Gecko (Phyllodactylus wirshingi). Cytogenetic and Genome Research - get paper here
  • Rivero, J.A. 1978. Los anfibios y reptiles de Puerto Rico. M. Pareja Montana, 16, Barcelona, Espafia: x + 152 + 148pp.
  • Rösler, H. 2000. Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha). Gekkota 2: 28-153
  • Schwartz, A. 1979. The status of Greater Antillean Phyllodactylus (Reptilia, Gekkonidae). Journal of Herpetology 13 (4): 419-426 - get paper here
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Weiss, Andrew J. and S. Blair Hedges 2007. Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the Antillean geckos Phyllodactylus wirshingi, Tarentola americana, and Hemidactylus haitianus (Reptilia, Squamata). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 45: 409-416 - get paper here
 
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