Convergence in Gecko Toe Pad Shape


Meeting Abstract

114-2  Sunday, Jan. 8 08:15 – 08:30  Convergence in Gecko Toe Pad Shape HAGEY, T/J; Michigan State University hageyt@msu.edu

Geckos are well known lizards for their striking climbing and clinging abilities. The adhesive toe pads of gecko lizards come in a while variety of shapes and sizes. Anecdotally, species have been lumped into toe pad type-classes, irrespective of phylogenetic relationships. Using geometric morphometrics, we asked if distantly related species of geckos are morphologically convergent. We found that morphologically similar species do clump in PC morphospace. With the addition of a phylogeny, we also found repeated evolution of similar morphologies across distant species.

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