Pygopodoidea Explained

Pygopodoidea is a gecko superfamily and the only taxon in the gekkotan subclade Pygopodomorpha. The clade includes three Australasian families: Diplodactylidae (stone geckos), Carphodactylidae (knob-tailed geckos), and Pygopodidae (flap-footed geckos). Traditional gekkotan systematics had considered Diplodactylidae and Carphodactylidae as subfamilies of the family Gekkonidae, but recent molecular work have placed Pygopodidae within Gekkonidae making it paraphyletic.^[1] These analyses have shown support of Pygopodidae and Carphodactylidae being sister taxa, with Diplodactylidae occupying a basal position in Pygopodoidea.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Below is a taxonomic list of pygopodoid genera in taxonomic order:

• Pygopodomorpha (Vidal & Hedges, 2009)
  • Pygopodoidea (Gray, 1845)
    • Diplodactylidae (Underwood, 1954) – Stone Geckos
      • Crenadactylus (Dixon & Kluge, 1964) – Clawless Gecko
      • Nebulifera (Oliver, Bauer, Greenbaum, Jackman & Hobbie, 2012) – Robust Velvet Gecko
      • Amalosia (Wells & Wellington, 1984) – Amalosian Velvet Geckos
      • Oedura (J. E. Gray, 1842) – Oeduran Velvet Geckos
      • Hesperoedura (Oliver, Bauer, Greenbaum, Jackman & Hobbie, 2012) – Reticulated Velvet Gecko
      • Strophurus (Fitzinger, 1843) – Spiny-tailed Geckos
      • Diplodactylus (Gray, 1832) – Stone Geckos
      • Rhynchoedura (Günther, 1867) – Beaked Geckos
      • Lucasium (Wermuth, 1965) – Ground Geckos
      • Toropuku (Nielsen, Bauer, Jackman, Hitchmough & Daugherty, 2011) – New Zealand Striped Gecko
      • Naultinus (Gray, 1842) – New Zealand Green Geckos
      • Tukutuku (Nielsen, Bauer, Jackman, Hitchmough & Daugherty, 2011) – Harlequin Gecko
      • Dactylocnemis (Steindachner, 1867) – Pacific Geckos
      • Mokopirirakau (Nielsen, Bauer, Jackman, Hitchmough & Daugherty, 2011) – Forest Geckos
      • Woodworthia (Garman, 1901) – Woodworth's Geckos
      • Hoplodactylus (Fitzinger, 1843) – Hoplodactyl Geckos
      • Pseudothecadactylus (Brongersma, 1936) – Cave Geckos
      • Bavayia (Roux, 1913) – Bavay's Geckos
      • Paniegekko (Bauer, Jackman, Sadlier & Whitaker, 2012) – Panié du Massif Gecko
      • Dierogekko (Bauer, Jackman, Sadlier & Whitaker, 2006) – New Caledonian Striped Geckos
      • Oedodera (Bauer, Jackman, Sadlier & Whitaker, 2006) – Marbled Gecko
      • Correlophus (Guichenot, 1866) – Correloph Geckos
      • Rhacodactylus (Fitzinger, 1843) – Rhacodactyl Geckos
      • Mniarogekko (Bauer, Whitaker, Sadlier & Jackman, 2012) – Mossy Geckos
      • Eurydactylodes (Wermuth, 1965) – New Caledonian Chameleon Geckos
    • Carphodactylidae (Kluge, 1967) – Knob-tailed Geckos
      • Phyllurus (Schinz, 1822) – Phyllur Leaf-tailed Geckos
      • Saltuarius (Couper, Covacevich & Moritz, 1993) – Saltuar Leaf-tailed Geckos
      • Orraya (Couper, Covacevich, Schneider & Hoskin, 2000) – McIlwraith Leaf-tailed Gecko
      • Carphodactylus (Günther, 1897) – Australian Chameleon Gecko
      • Uvidicolus (Oliver & Bauer, 2011) – Border Thick-tailed Gecko
      • Underwoodisaurus (Wermuth, 1965) – Underwood's Geckos
      • Nephrurus (Günther, 1876) – Knob-tailed Geckos
    • Pygopodidae (Gray, 1845) – Flap-footed Geckos
      • Delma (Gray, 1831) – Delmas
      • Lialis (Gray, 1835) – Lialis
      • Ophidiocephalus (Lucas & Frost, 1897) – Bronzeback Snake-lizard
      • Pletholax (Cope, 1864) – Slender Slider
      • Aprasia (Gray, 1839) – Worm Geckos
      • Paradelma (Kinghorn, 1926) – Brigalow Scalyfoot
      • Pygopus (Merrem, 1820) – Scalyfeet

Notes and References

1. Han, D., K. Zhou, & A. M. Bauer. 2004. Phylogenetic relationships among gekkotan lizards inferred from c-mos nuclear DNA sequences and a new classification of the Gekkota. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 83: 353– 368.
2. Gamble, T., A. M. Bauer, E. Greenbaum, & T.R. Jackman. 2008. Evidence for Gondwanan vicariance in an ancient clade of gecko lizards. Journal of Biogeography 35: 88-104
3. 10.1186/1471-2148-13-93 . 23627680 . 3682911 . A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 13 . 93 . 2013 . Pyron . R . Burbrink . Frank T . Wiens . John J . free . 2013BMCEE..13...93P .
4. Zheng. Yuchi. Wiens. John J.. Combining phylogenomic and supermatrix approaches, and a time-calibrated phylogeny for squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) based on 52 genes and 4162 species . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 2016 . 94. Pt B. 537–547 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.10.009. 26475614.