Gecko-like

Gecko-like
	Leopard gecko ( Eublepharis macularius )
Systematics
Row :	Land vertebrates (Tetrapoda)
without rank:	Amniotes (Amniota)
without rank:	Sauropsida
Superordinate :	Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order :	Scale reptiles (Squamata)
without rank:	Gecko-like
Scientific name
	Gekkota
	Cuvier , 1817

The geckos (Gekkota) are a taxon of the squamata (squamata). They unite the geckos (Gekkonidae), the Australian pinnipeds (Pygopodidae), five other families that have only recently been separated from the geckos, and some fossil taxa .

features

The geckos have a different karyotype from all other lizards and have a special muscle in the ear area. The vertebrae of most geckos are amphicoel, that is, they are indented at both ends. This is seen as a return to a primitive state, some primitive genera and fossil gecko-like vertebrae from the Jurassic have procoele (front concave, rear convex) vertebrae. The stapes have a hole. Most often the zygomatic arch is missing , the hyoid bone is wing-shaped. The tongues are fleshy and thick. The many nocturnal species can communicate by calling. In Lidgeckos , double- fingered geckos , Carphodactylidae and pinnipeds , the eggshells are parchment-like, while in the other families they are calcified. A pair of egg teeth helps hatching geckos to pierce the egg shell.

Tribal history

The lizard Ardeosaurus brevipes , whose fossil remains were found in the sandstone deposits of the Upper Jurassic ( Tithonium ) in Bavaria, could be an early representative of this taxon. The geckos are well known from the Upper Cretaceous (the fact that the much older Jurassic genus Eichstaettisaurus belongs to the Gekkota is disputed), the gecko family has been passed down in fossil form since the Upper Eocene , and there is no fossil record of the pinnacles.

Systematics

Burton's pointed head fin foot ( Lialis burtonis )

Wall gecko ( Tarentola mauritanica )

Today seven families of gecko-like lizards are distinguished. A basal dichotomy separates the Australasian families of double- fingered geckos (Diplodactylidae), pinnipeds (Pygopodidae) and Carphodactylidae from the other four families. So far, more than 1600 species from around 120 genera have been described.

Geckos (gekkota)

Pygopodomorpha

Double- fingered geckos (Diplodactylidae) (over 140 species)

	Carphodactylidae (about 30 species)

	Pinnipeds (Pygopodidae) (over 40 species)

Gekkomorpha

Lidgeckos (Eublepharidae) (over 30 species)

Sphaerodactylidae (over 200 species)

	Geckos (Gekkonidae) (over 1000 species)

	Leaf finger geckos (Phyllodactylidae) (over 130 species)

literature

Robert L. Carroll : Paleontology and Evolution of the Vertebrates. Thieme, Stuttgart et al. 1993, ISBN 3-13774-401-6 .
Hans-Eckard Gruner, Horst Füller, Kurt Günther: Fish, amphibians, reptiles (= Urania animal kingdom. ). Urania-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-332-00491-3 .
Demin Han, Kaiya Zhou, Aaron M. Bauer: Phylogenetic relationships among gekkotan lizards inferred from C-mos nuclear DNA sequences and a new classification of the Gekkota. In: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. Vol. 83, No. 3, 2004, pp. 353–368, doi : 10.1111 / j.1095-8312.2004.00393.x , digitized version (PDF; 189.06 kB) ( Memento from May 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) .
Arnold G. Kluge: Cladistic Relationships in the Gekkonoidea (Squamata, Sauria) (= University of Michigan. Museum of Zoology. Miscellaneous Publications. No. 173, ISSN 0076-8405 ). University of Michigan - Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor MI 1987, digital copy (PDF; 1.49 MB) .
Wilfried Westheide , Reinhard Rieger (Hrsg.): Special zoology. Volume 2: Vertebrates or Skull Animals. Spectrum - Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg et al. 2004, ISBN 3-8274-0307-3 .

Single receipts

↑ Aaron M. Bauer, Wolfgang Böhme , Wolfgang Weitschat: An Early gecko from Baltic amber and its implications for the evolution of gecko adhesion. In: Journal of Zoology. Vol. 265, No. 4, 2005, pp. 327-332, doi : 10.1017 / S0952836904006259 .
↑ Tony Gamble, Aaron M. Bauer, Eli Greenbaum, Todd R. Jackman: Out of the blue: a novel, trans-Atlantic clade of geckos (Gekkota, Squamata). In: Zoologica Scripta. Vol. 37, No. 4, 2008, pp. 355-366, doi : 10.1111 / j.1463-6409.2008.00330.x .
^ S. Blair Hedges, Nicolas Vidal: Lizards, snakes and amphisbaenias (Squamata). In: S. Blair Hedges, Sudhir Kumar (Eds.): The Timetree of Live. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-953503-3 , pp. 383-389, digitized version (PDF; 474.18 kB) .

Web links

Commons : Gekkota - collection of images, videos and audio files

Integrated Taxonomic Information System Gekkota
Image archive: Gekkota - Gecko-like [1]
Gekkota in The Reptile Database

[1] Aaron M. Bauer, Wolfgang Böhme , Wolfgang Weitschat: An Early gecko from Baltic amber and its implications for the evolution of gecko adhesion. In: Journal of Zoology. Vol. 265, No. 4, 2005, pp. 327-332, doi : 10.1017 / S0952836904006259 .

[2] Tony Gamble, Aaron M. Bauer, Eli Greenbaum, Todd R. Jackman: Out of the blue: a novel, trans-Atlantic clade of geckos (Gekkota, Squamata). In: Zoologica Scripta. Vol. 37, No. 4, 2008, pp. 355-366, doi : 10.1111 / j.1463-6409.2008.00330.x .

[3] S. Blair Hedges, Nicolas Vidal: Lizards, snakes and amphisbaenias (Squamata). In: S. Blair Hedges, Sudhir Kumar (Eds.): The Timetree of Live. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-953503-3 , pp. 383-389, digitized version (PDF; 474.18 kB) .