AUTHOR=McCann Jenny , Hagey Travis J. 

TITLE=Early burst of parallel evolution describes the diversification of gecko toe pads

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1334870

DOI=10.3389/fevo.2023.1334870

ISSN=2296-701X

ABSTRACT=Our study investigates how gecko lizards evolved the wide range of adhesive toe pad shapes seen today in living species. Using their phylogeny as a framework to investigate patterns of trait evolution, we found that different clades of geckos likely evolved along the same lines, changing in similar ways from ancestors without pads to distantly related groups of geckos with very Deleted: 7 46 Deleted: 3 47 2 similar adhesive toe pads. These parallel changes likely occurred quickly at first around 80 million years ago, and then slowed over time.