Pygopodidae Gray, 1845

Conrad, J. L., 2008, Phylogeny And Systematics Of Squamata (Reptilia) Based On Morphology, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2008 (310), pp. 1-182 : 96

Pygopodidae Gray, 1845

(figs. 54B, 55B)

DEFINITION: The most recent ancestor of extant taxa more closely related to Pygopus lepidopodus than to Gekko gecko or Eublepharis hardwickii and all descendants of that ancestor.

DIAGNOSIS: This analysis recovers six unambiguous synapomorphies for Pygopodidae , including 14(2) bilobed premaxillary incisive process, 22(1) absence of anterolateral processes on the nasals, 39(0) absence of a prefrontal-jugal contact, 114(1) presence of ventromedial fold on the palatine partly hiding the choanal groove in ventral view (rudimentary secondary palate), 185(0) dentary without a notch distinguishing coronoid and surangular processes, and 234(1) moderately oblique vertebral condyles and cotyles (see character description above).

COMMENTS: The current definition is a slight modification of that proposed by Kluge (1987) such that the anchor taxa are more specific. This is a more taxonomically inclusive definition than that of Estes et al. (1988) and includes diplodactyline geckos.