The Phyllodactylidae are a family of
geckos
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 ...
(
Gekkota
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 ...
) consisting of over 150
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
in 10
genera, distributed throughout the New World, North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The family was first delineated based on a molecular
phylogenetic analysis
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
in 2008, and all members possess a unique single codon deletion in the
phosducin
Phosducin, also known as PDC, is a human protein and gene. It belongs to the phosducin family of proteins.
This gene encodes a phosphoprotein, which is located in the outer and inner segments of the rod cells in the retina. This protein may part ...
(''PDC'') gene. The phyllodactylid genus ''
Bogertia'' has been recently synonymized with ''
Phyllopezus''.
Genera
These genera are considered members of the Phyllodactylidae:
References
Geckos
Lizard families
{{Gecko-stub