''Cyrtodactylus'' (Greek κυρτος ''kurtos'' "curved", from κυπτω ''kuptō'' "to stoop"; δακτυλος ''daktulos'' "finger, toe") is a diverse

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of Asian

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards ...

s, commonly known as bent-toed geckos, bow-fingered geckos, and forest geckos. The genus has 361 described

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, which makes it the largest of all gecko

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

Description

Instead of possessing dilated digits like other geckos, members of ''Cyrtodactylus'' have slender, curved toes to which the common names for the genus can be attributed.

Taxonomy

The phylogenetic relationships with this genus and the genus ''Geckoella'' has not been resolved to date. Based on morphology, suggested that it was a subgenus of ''Cyrtodactylus'' but a phylogenetic study by , though with inadequate sampling of taxa, restored it to generic status once again. All species of ''Geckoella'' have been placed here pending a more definitive study.

Phylogeny

The following phylogeny is from Pyron, et al. (2013), and includes 22 ''Cyrtodactylus'' species. ''Cyrtodactylus'' is a

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

of ''

Hemidactylus ''Hemidactylus'' is a genus of the common gecko family, Gekkonidae. It has 194 described species, newfound ones being described every few years. These geckos are found in all the tropical regions of the world, extending into the subtropical parts ...

''.

Species

The genus ''Cyrtodactylus'' contains 361 described species, with new species being described frequently.

References

External links