Sphaerodactylus macrolepis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sphaerodactylus macrolepis

Sphaerodactylus macrolepis
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Sphaerodactylus
Species:	macrolepis
Synonyms
Sphaerodactylus imbricatus - Fischer, 1881 Sphaerodactylus danforthi - Grant, 1931

Sphaerodactylus macrolepis, also known as the big-scaled least gecko, big-scaled dwarf gecko, or cotton ginner, is a gecko distributed in the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands and Culebra, Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. It is one of over 100 species in the genus Sphaerodactylus.

The former subspecies S. m. parvus, which is endemic to the Anguilla Bank (Anguilla, Saint Martin, and Saint Barthélemy) in the Lesser Antilles, was elevated to species level in 2001, as S. parvus. The subspecies Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis, restricted to Puerto Rico, and Sphaerodactylus inigoi, on Culebra, Puerto Rico and Vieques, were recently elevated to full species using a combination of genetic and morphological analyses. This leaves Sphaerodactylus macrolepis restricted to Culebra, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

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