 Two geckos, the dwarf gecko ("Sphaerodactylus ariasae") and the Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero ("S. parthenopion"), are the smallest known reptile species and smallest lizard, with a snout-vent length of .A few "Brookesia" chameleons from Madagascar are equally small, with a reported snout-vent length of 15–18 mm for male dwarf chameleons ("B. minima"), 14–19 mm for male Mount d'Ambre leaf chameleons ("B. tuberculata") and 15–16 mm for male "B. micra", though females are larger.Of the aforementioned geckos, "S. ariasae" was first described in 2001 by the biologists Blair Hedges and Richard Thomas.