Microhabitat and adhesive toepads shape gecko limb morphology.

ABSTRACT: Different substrates pose varied biomechanical challenges that select specific morphologies, such as long limbs for faster running and short limbs for balanced posture while climbing narrow substrates. We tested how gecko locomotion is affected by the microhabitat they occupy and by a key adaptation-adhesive toepads-through analyzing how those are related to limb morphology. We collected microhabitat and toepads data for over 90% of limbed gecko species, and limb measurements for 403 species from 83 of the 121 limbed gecko genera, which we then used in phylogenetic comparative analyses. Our data highlight the association of adhesive toepads with arboreality, but a phylogenetic analysis shows that this relationship is not significant, suggesting that these traits are phylogenetically constr

SUBMITTER: Zimin A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12046467 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature