This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2019) |
Thick-toed geckos | |
---|---|
P. oshaughnessyi at Lusaka, Zambia | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Family: | Gekkonidae |
Subfamily: | Uroplatinae |
Genus: | Pachydactylus Wiegmann, 1834[1] |
Synonyms | |
Pachydactylus is a genus of insectivorous geckos, lizards in the family Gekkonidae. The genus is endemic to Africa, and member species are commonly known as thick-toed geckos. The genus also displays rich speciation, having 58 distinct species identified when compared to other closely related gecko genera like Rhoptropus, most of which have emerged since 35Ma.[4] It has been suggested that the reason for this rich speciation not from adaptive radiation nor nonadaptive radiation, but that the genus represents a clade somewhere between the two drivers of speciation.[5] P. bibronii geckos have been used by NASA as animal models for experimentation.[6]