Sphaerodactylus poindexteri MCCRANIE & HEDGES, 2013
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Sphaerodactylus poindexteri
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| Higher Taxa | Sphaerodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Utila Small-scaled Geckolet |
| Synonym | Sphaerodactylus poindexteri MCCRANIE & HEDGES 2013 Sphaerodactylus millepunctatus — KÖHLER 1996: 25. Sphaerodactylus millepunctatus — KÖHLER 1998: 141 Sphaerodactylus millepunctatus — MCCRANIE et al., 2005: 80 (part). Sphaerodactylus continentalis — MCCRANIE & HEDGES 2012: 72 (part). |
| Distribution | Honduras (Islas de la Bahía: Utila) Type locality: near Trade Winds on the east coast of Isla de Utila, 16.102567°, -86.883117°, Islas de la Bahía, Honduras, 3 m elevation. |
| Reproduction | oviparous (manual and phylogenetic imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: FMNH 283685 (genetic sample 1, KF017641), an adult female, collected 25 September 2012 by James R. McCranie and Leonardo Valdés Orellana. Paratypes (2). FMNH 283682, 283684 (genetic sample 2, KF017642, KF017631), both adult females, same data as holotype. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Sphaerodactylus poindexteri has a slightly longer head (HL/SVL 0.272–0.273) than do the other species in the S. millepunctatus species group (versus 0.221–0.248 in seven female S. continentalis, 0.220–0.261 in 10 female S. guanajae, 0.210–0.260 in 10 female S. leonardovaldesi, and 0.214–0.247 in 10 female S. millepunctatus). Sphaerodactylus poindexteri also lacks the short, narrow, pale longitudinal line located above each pelvic area as seen in the other Bay Island species of this group (S. guanajae, S. leonardovaldesi). Sphaerodactylus poindexteri differs further from S. millepunctatus in having smaller and more numerous dorsal scales (63–72, x = 68.0 ± 4.6 dorsal scales between levels of axilla and groin in S. poindexteri versus 42–57, x = 51.7 ± 4.8 in 18 S. millepunctatus). Sphaerodactylus poindexteri also appears to have fewer dorsal scales around the midbody than does S. continentalis (55–63 in two S. poindexteri versus 64–80 in 21 S. continentalis). Sphaerodactylus poindexteri also differs from S. continentalis and S. millepunctatus in having a more muted dorsal pattern (dark dorsal spots, when present, usually confined to one scale in S. poindexteri versus dark dorsal spots usually larger, usually occupying more than one scale in size S. continentalis and S. millepunctatus). Sphaerodactylus poindexteri occurs sympatrically with one other species of Sphaerodactylus, S. rosaurae Parker, but is easily distinguished from that species in having all dorsal body scales of a similar size (versus middorsal zone of granular scales that are sharply and distinctly differentiated from the much larger surrounding dorsal scales in S. rosaurae). Sphaerodactylus poindexteri also differs from other S. millepunctatus species group members in amount of model- corrected cytochrome b sequence divergence (17 %; Fig. 1 in MCCRANIE & HEDGES 2013). |
| Comment | Synonymy: after MCCRANIE & HEDGES 2013 Habitat. Individuals were uncovered while raking through leaf litter during the morning and afternoon. Specimens were collected at two adjacent sites, one consisting of a zone of Sea Grape (Cocoloba uvifera) trees located behind the beach and a zone of uplifted coral rock. The second site consisted of hardwood tree leaf litter. The former site is at 3 m elevation, whereas the second site is at 10 m elevation. Because of the fragile skin of this species, most museum specimens have some damage to their skin. Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). |
| Etymology | The specific name poindexteri is a patronym honoring James A. Poindexter of the USNM Support Center in Suitland, MD. James has been extremely helpful to the first author (JRM) over the years in providing copies of much needed literature for his continuing work on the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras. |
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