Carphodactylidae

Carphodactylidae
Barking gecko (Underwoodisaurus milii)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Superfamily: Pygopodoidea
Family: Carphodactylidae
Kluge, 1967
Genera

Seven, see text.

The Carphodactylidae, informally known as the southern padless geckos,[1] are a family of geckos, lizards in the infraorder Gekkota. The family consists of 34 described species in 7 genera, all of which are endemic to Australia. They belong to the superfamily Pygopodoidea (or Diplodactyloidea), an ancient group of east Gondwanan geckos now only found in Australasia. Despite their well-developed limbs, molecular phylogenies have demonstrated that Carphodactylidae is the sister group to Pygopodidae, a highly specialized family of legless lizards.[2][3]

Carphodactylids, despite being the most species-poor family of geckos, are still diverse in habits. Many have unusual, specialized tails with reduced rates of autotomy. They lack adhesive toepads and instead cling to bark or substrate with sharply curved claws and a limited array of lamellae. Carphodactylids are relatively large by gecko standards; most are nocturnal and all are oviparous, with a typical clutch size of two eggs. Unlike most Australian geckos, species diversity is concentrated in humid forests along the northeastern edge of Australia. Nevertheless, some genera are diverse in arid regions as well.[2][4][1][3][5]

  1. ^ a b Cogger, Harold G. (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia (7 ed.). Clayton South VIC: CSIRO Publishing.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Skipwith, Phillip L.; Bi, Ke; Oliver, Paul M. (2019-11-01). "Relicts and radiations: Phylogenomics of an Australasian lizard clade with east Gondwanan origins (Gekkota: Diplodactyloidea)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 140 (106589): 106589. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106589. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 31425788.
  4. ^ Vitt, Laurie J.; Caldwell, Janalee P. (2014). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Elsevier. ISBN 9780123869203.
  5. ^ Rodda, Gordon H. (2020). Lizards of the World : Natural History and Taxon Accounts. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9781421438238.