Evolutionary scenarios in the Pachydactylus Group geckos of southern Africa: new hypotheses

Abstract

Gekkonid lizards constitute one of the most diverse and highly endemic components of the southern African herpetofauna. Although higher order relationships among African geckos remain obscure, the Pachydactylus Group has been widely accepted as monophyletic. Within this clade many taxa are restricted to particular substrate types. The historical subdivision of these substrates may have promoted cladogenesis, and thus high levels of both endemism and diversity within this lineage. Evolutionary scenarios serving as hypotheses for the relationship between earth history and gekkonid phylogeny are proposed for the P. namaquensis complex, P. punctatus complex, and the P. serval complex, as well as the genera Palmatogecko and Rhoptropus.