Editing Gecko (section)

==Taxonomy and classification==
[[File:LizardFemoralPoresRooij.png|thumb|Pores on the skin are often used in classification.]]

The [[infraorder]] [[Gekkota]] is divided into seven families, containing about 125 [[genus|genera]] of geckos, including the snake-like (legless) pygopods.<ref name="plosone.org"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Han |first1=D. |last2=Zhou |first2=K. |last3=Bauer |first3=A.M. |year=2004 |title=Phylogenetic relationships among gekkotan lizards inferred from c-mos nuclear DNA sequences and a new classification of the Gekkota |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=83 |issue=3 |pages=353–368 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00393.x|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gamble |first1=T. |last2=Bauer |first2=A.M. |last3=Greenbaum |first3=E. |last4=Jackman |first4=T.R. |date=July 2008 |title=Out of the blue: A novel, trans-Atlantic clade of geckos (Gekkota, Squamata) |journal=Zoologica Scripta |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=355–366 |doi=10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00330.x |s2cid=83706826 |url=https://epublications.marquette.edu/bio_fac/872 |doi-access=free |access-date=2023-08-18 |archive-date=2023-11-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101035638/https://epublications.marquette.edu/bio_fac/872/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Gamble_Gondwana>{{cite journal |last1=Gamble |first1=Tony |last2=Bauer |first2=Aaron M. |last3=Greenbaum |first3=Eli |last4=Jackman |first4=Todd R. |title=Evidence for Gondwanan vicariance in an ancient clade of gecko lizards |journal=Journal of Biogeography |volume=35 |date=21 August 2007 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01770.x |pages=88–104 |s2cid=29974883 |url=https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1758&context=bio_fac |access-date=30 September 2020 |archive-date=6 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506224757/https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1758&context=bio_fac |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gamble |first1=T. |last2=Bauer |first2=A.M. |last3=Colli |first3=G.R. |last4=Greenbaum |first4=E. |last5=Jackman | first5=T.R. |last6=Vitt |first6=L.J. |last7=Simons |first7=A.M. |date=February 2011 |title=Coming to America: Multiple Origins of New World Geckos |journal=Journal of Evolutionary Biology |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=231–244 |doi=10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02184.x |pmid=21126276 |pmc=3075428}}</ref><ref name="Into the light: Diurnality has evol"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Gamble |first=Tony |author2=Greenbaum, Eli |author3=Jackman, Todd R. |author4=Russell, Anthony P. |author5=Bauer, Aaron M. |title=Repeated Origin and Loss of Adhesive Toepads in Geckos |journal=PLOS ONE |date=June 27, 2012 |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=e39429 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0039429 |pmid=22761794 |pmc=3384654|bibcode=2012PLoSO...739429G |doi-access=free }}</ref>

*Family [[Carphodactylidae]]
*Family [[Diplodactylidae]]
*Family [[Eublepharidae]]
*Family [[Gekkonidae]]
*Family [[Phyllodactylidae]]
*Family [[Pygopodidae]]
*Family [[Sphaerodactylidae]]

Legless lizards of the family [[Dibamidae]], also referred to as blind lizards,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Gekkota.html |title=Infraorder GekkotaInfraorder Gekkota (blind lizards, geckos, and legless lizards) |last=Myers |first=P. |author2=R. Espinosa |author3=C. S. Parr |author4=T. Jones |author5=G. S. Hammond |author6=T. A. Dewey |year=2008 |publisher=The Animal Diversity Web (online) |access-date=2009-04-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513023543/http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Gekkota.html |archive-date=2009-05-13 }}</ref> have occasionally been counted as gekkotans, but recent molecular phylogenies suggest otherwise.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Townsend |first1=Ted M. |last2=Larson |first2=Allan |last3=Louis |first3=Edward |last4=Macey |first4=J. Robert |title=Molecular Phylogenetics of Squamata: The Position of Snakes, Amphisbaenians, and Dibamids, and the Root of the Squamate Tree |journal=Systematic Biology |date=1 October 2004 |volume=53 |issue=5 |pages=735–757 |doi=10.1080/10635150490522340|pmid=15545252 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vidal |first1=Nicolas |last2=Hedges |first2=S. Blair |title=The phylogeny of squamate reptiles (lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians) inferred from nine nuclear protein-coding genes |journal=Comptes Rendus Biologies |date=October 2005 |volume=328 |issue=10–11 |pages=1000–1008 |doi=10.1016/j.crvi.2005.10.001|pmid=16286089 |url=https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/articles/10.1016/j.crvi.2005.10.001/ }}</ref>

{{clade
|label1='''Gekkota'''
|1={{clade
   |1={{clade
      |1=[[Diplodactylidae]]
      |2={{clade
         |1=[[Carphodactylidae]]
         |2=[[Pygopodidae]]
         }}
      }}
   |2={{clade
      |1=[[Eublepharidae]]
      |2={{clade
         |1=[[Sphaerodactylidae]]
         |2={{clade
            |1=[[Phyllodactylidae]]
            |2=[[Gekkonidae]]
            }}
          }}
       }}
   }}
}}

=== Evolutionary history ===
[[File:Eichstaettisaurus schroederi 398858 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Skeleton of ''[[Eichstaettisaurus]],'' thought to be an early member of the gecko lineage]]
[[File:Deutsches Bernsteinmuseum 04 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Fossil of ''[[Yantarogekko]]'' preserved in Baltic amber]]
Several species of lizard from the late Jurassic have been considered early relatives of geckos, the most prominent and most well supported being the arboreal ''[[Eichstaettisaurus]]'' from the late Jurassic of Germany. ''[[Norellius]]'' from the early Cretaceous of Mongolia is also usually placed as a close relative of geckos.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tałanda |first=Mateusz |date=September 2018 |editor-last=Benson |editor-first=Roger |title=An exceptionally preserved Jurassic skink suggests lizard diversification preceded fragmentation of Pangaea |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pala.12358 |journal=Palaeontology |language=en |volume=61 |issue=5 |pages=659–677 |doi=10.1111/pala.12358 |bibcode=2018Palgy..61..659T |s2cid=134878128 |access-date=2022-06-17 |archive-date=2022-06-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617042556/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pala.12358 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The oldest known fossils of modern geckos are from the mid-Cretaceous [[Burmese amber]] of Myanmar (including ''[[Cretaceogekko]]''), around 100 million years old, which have adhesive pads on the feet similar to those of living geckos.<ref>{{cite web |author=Arnold, E.N. |author-link=:fr:Edwin Nicholas Arnold |author2=Poinar, G. |author2-link=George Poinar |name-list-style=amp |date=2008 |title=A 100 million year old gecko with sophisticated adhesive toe pads, preserved in amber from Myanmar (abstract) |url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/z01847p068f.pdf |publisher=[[Zootaxa]] |accessdate=August 12, 2009 |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423164342/https://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/z01847p068f.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fontanarrosa |first1=Gabriela |last2=Daza |first2=Juan D. |last3=Abdala |first3=Virginia |date=April 2018 |title=Cretaceous fossil gecko hand reveals a strikingly modern scansorial morphology: Qualitative and biometric analysis of an amber-preserved lizard hand |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2017.11.003 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=84 |pages=120–133 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2017.11.003 |bibcode=2018CrRes..84..120F |issn=0195-6671|hdl=11336/64819 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bauer |first=A M |date=2019-07-01 |title=Gecko Adhesion in Space and Time: A Phylogenetic Perspective on the Scansorial Success Story |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=117–130 |doi=10.1093/icb/icz020 |pmid=30938766 |issn=1540-7063|doi-access=free }}</ref>