Aristelliger lar
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Aristelliger lar, also known commonly as the Hispaniolan giant gecko and the spotted Caribbean gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae. The species is endemic to the island of Hispaniola. The specific name, lar, refers to a Lar, an ancient Roman household god.
A. lar is found in disjunct populations on Hispaniola, in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The preferred natural habitat of A. lar is forest, but is also found in man-made structures in or near forest, such as houses and hotels.
A. lar attains a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about 13 cm (5.1 in). A. lar is oviparous. Bauer AM, Russell AP (1993). "Aristelliger lar ". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (570): 1–3. Cope ED (1862). "On the Genera Panolopus, Centropyx, Aristelliger and Sphærodactylus ". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13: 494–500. (Aristelliger lar, new species, p. 497).
Hecht MK (1951). "Fossil Lizards of the West Indian Genus Aristelliger (Gekkonidae)". American Museum Novitates (1538): 1–33. (Aristelliger titan, new... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Haitises National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic |
More parks will be added in future updates.
No species of the same family or order lives in Los Haitises National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Hispaniolan Giant Gecko sighting in Los Haitises National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Hispaniolan Giant Gecko in Los Haitises National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–April, June and September–December, the lowest months. That is one of Los Haitises National Park's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain against 50 mm in February.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hispaniolan Giant Gecko sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Los Haitises National Park, in our data
Los Haitises National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Hispaniolan Giant Gecko sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hispaniolan Giant Gecko is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Los Haitises National Park (11 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
