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August 19, 2026Systematic Biology

Aridification and habitat shifts are associated with diversification in Australian diplodactylid geckos

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Authors

STSarin TiatragulIBIan G. BrennanASAlexander Skeels

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Overview

Macroevolutionary analysis reveals arboreal mesic origins and arid-zone radiations in Australian diplodactylid geckos, highlighting environmental change as a major evolutionary driver.

Key Points

  • To investigate how continental environmental change, biome transitions, and ecological opportunity shaped the phylogenetic diversification and morphological evolution of diplodactylid geckos.
  • Sequenced ~5,000 nuclear loci to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships and divergence times across ~200 diplodactylid gecko species.
  • Estimated ancestral ecologies and biomes using Australian biome-through-time maps, and modeled trait evolution alongside diversification dynamics.
  • Crown diplodactylids originated in the mid-Eocene (~45 Ma), with the primary Australian clade radiating in the Oligocene (~28 Ma) from arboreal, mesic ancestors.
  • Lineages repeatedly transitioned into open, semi-arid, and arid biomes, with diversification rate variation fitting unmeasured hidden states better than broad ecological states alone.
  • Body size varied significantly across ecological states, whereas tail length showed no ecological association and remained phylogenetically conserved.

Cite This Study

Tiatragul et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a85642503308d306e2d7beahttps://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syag066
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