At the lower size limit in amniote vertebrates: A new diminutive lizard from the West Indies

A new species of gekkonid lizard is described from Isla Beata and adjacent areas of Hispaniola, West Indies. Sphaerodactylus ariasae, sp. nov. is most closely related to S. streptophorus, from which it differs in size, color pattern, scalation, and snout shape. Its most distinctive feature is the ve ry small adult body size, averaging only 16 (14-18) mm snout-to-vent-length . The new species and S. parthenopion (British Virgin Islands) are the smal lest of the approximately 23,000 species of amniote vertebrates.