Morphology of the adhesive tail tips of carphodactyline geckos (Reptilia: Diplodactylidae).

Members of the carphodactyline gekkonoid genera Naultinus, Hoplodactylus, Bavayia, Eurydactylodes, Rhacodactylus, and Pseudothecadactylus possess tails that are both prehensile and adhesive. In New Caledonian and Australian species of this group, the adhesive apparatus forms a discrete and grossly observable scansorial pad. The caudal scansorial system appears to show a phylogenetic trend towards increasing complexity. The caudal scansors closely parallel the subdigital scansors in surface morphology and bear branched setae and mechanoreceptive sensillae. Internal morphology also resembles that of the toe, although a tendinous system is absent and the mechanism of pressurization of the vascular network of the tail tip remains unclear. Despite obvious differences in basic organization of tails and toes, the caudal and digital scansors in these taxa appear to be iterative homologues of one another. J. Morphol. 235:41-58, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.