Gekkonidae (the common geckos) is the largest family of

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

s, containing over 950 described species in 64 genera. Members of the Gekkonidae comprise many of the most widespread gecko species, including

house gecko __NOTOC__ ''Hemidactylus'' is a genus of the common gecko family, Gekkonidae. It has 189 described species, newfound ones being described every few years. These geckos are found in all the tropical regions of the world, extending into the subtrop ...

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Hemidactylus __NOTOC__ ''Hemidactylus'' is a genus of the common gecko family, Gekkonidae. It has 189 described species, newfound ones being described every few years. These geckos are found in all the tropical regions of the world, extending into the subtrop ...

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tokay gecko The tokay gecko (''Gekko gecko'') is a nocturnal arboreal gecko in the genus '' Gekko'', the true geckos. It is native to Asia and some Pacific Islands. Subspecies Two subspecies are currently recognized. *''G. g. gecko'' (Linnaeus, 1758) ...

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Gekko ''Gekko'' is a genus of Southeast Asian geckos, commonly known as true geckos or calling geckos, in the family Gekkonidae. Although species such as ''Gekko gecko'' (tokay gecko) are very widespread and common, some species in the same genus hav ...

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day gecko ''Phelsuma'' is a large genus of geckos in the Family (biology), family Gekkonidae. Species in the genus ''Phelsuma'' are commonly referred to as day geckos. Some day geckos are seriously endangered and some are common, but all ''Phelsuma'' spec ...

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Phelsuma ''Phelsuma'' is a large genus of geckos in the family Gekkonidae. Species in the genus ''Phelsuma'' are commonly referred to as day geckos. Some day geckos are seriously endangered and some are common, but all ''Phelsuma'' species are CITES App ...

''), mourning geckos (''

Lepidodactylus ''Lepidodactylus'' is a large genus of geckos, commonly known as scaly-toed geckos and closely related to house geckos or dtellas. Geographic range Species in the genus ''Lepidodactylus'' are found from Southeast Asia to Indo-Australia and O ...

'') and dtellas (''

Gehyra ''Gehyra'' is a genus of geckos in the family ''Gekkonidae''. They are known as web-toed geckos or dtellas, and most species within the genus bear close resemblance to geckos from the genus ''Hemidactylus''. Geographic range ''Gehyra'' specie ...

''). Gekkonid geckos occur globally and are particularly species-rich in tropical areas.

geckos are one of the most species-rich and widely distributed of all reptile genera. Carranza, S., and E. .. Arnold. "Systematics, Biogeography, and Evolution of Hemidactylus Geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) Elucidated Using Mitochondrial DNA Sequences." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, vol. 38, no. 2, Elsevier Inc, 2006, pp. 531–45, .

Fossils

The earliest known gekkonidae fossil record '' Yantarogekko'' was found in Eocene-Aged

Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 1 ...

Distribution

Species within the Gekkonidae family can be located in every warm land area, furthermore, many genera are capable of widespread geographical habitation. Genus ''Hemidactylus'' alone supports this claim as it can be identified in all sub-tropical areas of the world. However, many other genera exist that are endemic, for example, genera '' afroedura'', and '' afrogecko'', are distributed in the continent of Africa. The range of genus ''Lepidodactylus'' stretches from South Asia to Oceania; this genus also accounts for several island species. The genera listed here do not account for all Gekkonidae subspecies and are used only as examples of distribution, for a full list see section 'Genera'.

Genera

Gekkonidae contains the following genera: Possibly belonging to the family: '' Yantarogekko'' (fossil)

Phylogeny

Pyron, et al. (2013)Pyron, R Alexander, Frank T Burbrink and John J Wiens. 2013. A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:93. presents the following classification of ''Gekkonidae'' genera, based on

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

References

Lizard families Taxa named by John Edward Gray Geckos Extant Eocene first appearances {{Gekkonidae-stub bcl:Tukô