Two unambiguous losses of adhesive toepads in south African geckos.

Maximum likelihood tree illustrating two independent losses of the digital adhesive mechanism in the southern African geckos Chondrodactylus angulifer and Pachydactylus rangei (in shaded boxes). Circles at nodes indicate bootstrap support. Bayesian posterior probabilities of the presence of toepads are shown for the most recent common ancestor of the included lineages, clearly indicating that the ancestor of this group possessed toepads. Representative species and their associated digital morphologies are illustrated. (A) Rupicolous habitat where padded members of this clade typically occur. (B) Sand dune habitat where the padless Chondrodactylus angulifer and the web-footed Pachydactylus rangei typically occur.