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Phyllodactylus wirshingi KERSTER & SMITH, 1955

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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 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (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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