One of Trinidad's geckos gets a name upgrade

Gonatodes ferrugineus (formerly G. humeralis) from Trinidad. Photo by Renoir Auguste

Geckos are a group of terrestrial vertebrates that tend to be restricted to small geographic ranges. The exception appears in the genus Gonatodes. One species in particular has a range of over a million square kilometres - Gonatodes humeralis commonly called the spot-nosed gecko. However, given its small size, the likelihood of one single small species spread so far is questionable.

Pinto and colleagues (2019) looked into this and used molecular genetic data to investigate the population genetic structure and species delimitation of this Neotropical dwarf gecko. Based on their findings, there is species-level divergence evidence of the population on Trinidad, compared to South America. As such, Gonatodes ferrugineus was resurrected from synonymy for this population.

This is another example of where further research uncovers findings that are there to be discovered.  These findings provide another update to be edited for the future second edition of the field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of Trinidad and Tobago.

Reference
Pinto et al. 2019. Population genetic structure and species delimitation of a widespread Neotropical dwarf gecko. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 133: 54-66.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.12.029