Repeated Evolution of Digital Adhesion in Geckos: A Reply to Harrington and Reeder

Authors

Tony Gamble, Marquette UniversityFollow
E. Greenbaum, University of Texas - El PasoFollow
T. R. Jackman, Villanova University
A. P. Russell, University of CalgaryFollow
A. M. Bauer, Villanova UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Publication Date

4-23-2017

Publisher

Wiley

Source Publication

Journal of Evolutionary Biology

Source ISSN

1010-061X

Abstract

We published a phylogenetic comparative analysis that found geckos had gained and lost adhesive toepads multiple times over their long evolutionary history (Gamble et al., PLoS One, 7, 2012, e39429). This was consistent with decades of morphological studies showing geckos had evolved adhesive toepads on multiple occasions and that the morphology of geckos with ancestrally padless digits can be distinguished from secondarily padless forms. Recently, Harrington & Reeder (J. Evol. Biol., 30, 2017, 313) reanalysed data from Gamble et al. (PLoS One, 7, 2012, e39429) and found little support for the multiple origins hypothesis. Here, we argue that Harrington and Reeder failed to take morphological evidence into account when devising ancestral state reconstruction models and that these biologically unrealistic models led to erroneous conclusions about the evolution of adhesive toepads in geckos.

Comments

Accepted version. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Vol 30, No. 7 (April 23, 2017): 1429-1436. DOI. © 2017 Wiley. Used with permission.

Recommended Citation

Gamble, Tony; Greenbaum, E.; Jackman, T. R.; Russell, A. P.; and Bauer, A. M., "Repeated Evolution of Digital Adhesion in Geckos: A Reply to Harrington and Reeder" (2017). Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications. 625.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/bio_fac/625