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Pygopodidae
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<h2 id="shared-gecko-characteristics">Shared gecko characteristics</h2> <p>The pygopodids and other geckos share a number of characteristics: </p> <ul><li>the production of parchment-shelled <a href="/facts/Egg_(biology)/KyMSx9v4">eggs</a> in <a href="/facts/Clutch_(eggs)/suAybckh">clutch</a> sizes of two<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li>the ability to lick clean the clear spectacles that cover their lidless eyes;<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li>vocalization sounds like the common gecko "harsh squeak".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li>skull anatomy</li> <li>inner ears anatomy<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li>communal nests. Some nests have been found to have as many as 30 eggs.</li></ul> <h2 id="differences-from-snakes">Differences from snakes</h2> <p>Legless lizards are often killed due to their similar appearance to snakes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> A number of external characteristics can be used to distinguish legless lizards (including the hooded scaly-foot) from snakes:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <ul><li>Flap-footed lizards have vestigial hind limbs.</li> <li>Legless lizards have broad, fleshy tongues, dissimilar from the forked tongues of snakes.</li> <li>Most legless lizards have external ears.</li> <li>Ventral scales are in a paired series.</li> <li>Unbroken tails in legless lizards are much longer than the body, whereas snake bodies are longer than their tails.</li> <li>Can vocalise, snakes can not.</li></ul> <h2 id="hearing">Hearing</h2> <p>Pygopodids can hear tones higher than any other reptiles. Individuals in the species <i><a href="/facts/Delma/QSzP6p3f">Delma pax</a></i> can respond to a 60-decibel sound with a frequency of 11,100 <a href="/facts/Hertz/6Wshj5qm">Hz</a>, more than an <a href="/facts/Octave/RA4gWvkV">octave</a> above <a href="/facts/Eighth_octave_C/FdvRz0zL">the highest note on a standard piano</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="taxonomy">Taxonomy</h2> <p>Pygopodidae is one of several taxonomic families of <a href="/facts/Gekkota/V1TqC03z">geckos</a>, and is most closely related to two other Australian gecko families <a href="/facts/Carphodactylidae/nCJhXyu7">Carphodactylidae</a> and <a href="/facts/Diplodactylidae/hJBdIgLK">Diplodactylidae</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="classification">Classification</h2> <p>FAMILY PYGOPODIDAE </p> <ul><li>Subfamily Lialisinae <ul><li>Tribe Lialisini <ul><li>Genus <i><a href="/facts/Lialis/h7RCN0a4">Lialis</a></i> (two species)</li></ul></li></ul></li> <li>Subfamily Pygopodinae <ul><li>Genus <i><a href="/facts/Delma/QSzP6p3f">Delma</a></i> (22 species)</li> <li>Genus <i><a href="/facts/Paradelma/1ojcqDUQ">Paradelma</a></i> (<a href="/facts/Monotypic/QvoM9aGP">monotypic</a>)</li> <li>Genus <i><a href="/facts/Pygopus/Etu2lVg5">Pygopus</a></i> (five species)</li> <li>Tribe Aprasiaini <ul><li>Subtribe Aprasiaina <ul><li>Genus <i><a href="/facts/Ophidiocephalus/rzFJ3ud1">Ophidiocephalus</a></i> (monotypic)</li> <li>Genus <i><a href="/facts/Aprasia/Vs2Tp5jB">Aprasia</a></i> (14 species)</li></ul></li> <li>Subtribe Pletholaxina <ul><li>Genus <i><a href="/facts/Pletholax/uSgzzdxT">Pletholax</a></i> (2 species)</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Limbless_vertebrates/aBo40Hah">Limbless vertebrates</a></li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <a href="/facts/Wikispecies/b2GhA7Le">Wikispecies</a> has information related to <i>Pygopodidae</i>. <ul><li><a href="/facts/George_Albert_Boulenger/s50REt6N">Boulenger GA</a> (1884). "Synopsis of the Families of existing Lacertilia". <i>Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Fifth Series</i> 14: 117–122. (Pygopodidae, new family, p. 119).</li> <li>Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). <i>Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition</i>. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-7167-0020-4. (Family Pygopodidae, pp. 285–286).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Arnold_G._Kluge/goam3NJ4">Kluge AG</a> (1974). "A taxonomic revision of the lizard family Pygopodidae". <i>Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan</i> (147): 1–221.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Gamble, Tony; Greenbaum, Eli; Jackman, Todd R.; Russell, Anthony P.; Bauer, Aaron M. (June 27, 2012). "Repeated origin and loss of adhesive toepads in geckos". PLOS ONE. 7 (6): e39429. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...739429G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039429. PMC 3384654. PMID 22761794. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384654" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384654</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Bauer, Aaron M. (1998). Cogger HG, Zweifel RG (eds.). Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 150–152. ISBN 0-12-178560-2. <a href="0-12-178560-2" target="_blank">0-12-178560-2</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Shea, Glenn. "Fauna of Australia: Family Pygopodidae" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120824080320/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fauna-of-australia/pubs/volume2a/28-fauna-2a-squamata-pygopodidae.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120824080320/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fauna-of-australia/pubs/volume2a/28-fauna-2a-squamata-pygopodidae.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Bauer, Aaron M. (1998). Cogger HG, Zweifel RG (eds.). Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 150–152. ISBN 0-12-178560-2. <a href="0-12-178560-2" target="_blank">0-12-178560-2</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Patchell, Frederick; Richard Shine (February 1986). "Food habits and reproductive biology of the Australian legless lizards (Pygopodidae)". Copeia. 1986 (1): 30–39. doi:10.2307/1444884. JSTOR 1444884. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Wilson, Steve (2003). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. New Holland: Reed. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Bauer, Aaron M. (1998). Cogger HG, Zweifel RG (eds.). Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 150–152. ISBN 0-12-178560-2. <a href="0-12-178560-2" target="_blank">0-12-178560-2</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Wilson, Steve (2005). A Field Guide to Reptiles of Queensland. Australia: New Holland. <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Wilson, Steve (2003). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. New Holland: Reed. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Shea, Glenn. "Fauna of Australia: Family Pygopodidae" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120824080320/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fauna-of-australia/pubs/volume2a/28-fauna-2a-squamata-pygopodidae.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120824080320/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fauna-of-australia/pubs/volume2a/28-fauna-2a-squamata-pygopodidae.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Wilson, Steve (2003). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. New Holland: Reed. <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Hoser, Raymond (1989). Australian Reptiles and Frogs. Pierson & Co. <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Wilson, Steve (2003). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. New Holland: Reed. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Wilson, Steve (2005). A Field Guide to Reptiles of Queensland. Australia: New Holland. <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Manley GA, Kraus JEM (2010). "Exceptional high-frequency hearing and matched vocalizations in Australian pygopod geckos" (PDF). The Journal of Experimental Biology. 213 (11): 1876–1885. doi:10.1242/jeb.040196. PMID 20472775. S2CID 17996056. <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/content/213/11/1876.full.pdf" target="_blank">http://jeb.biologists.org/content/213/11/1876.full.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Patchell, Frederick; Richard Shine (February 1986). "Food habits and reproductive biology of the Australian legless lizards (Pygopodidae)". Copeia. 1986 (1): 30–39. doi:10.2307/1444884. JSTOR 1444884. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Wilson, Steve (2003). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. New Holland: Reed. <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Shea, Glenn. "Fauna of Australia: Family Pygopodidae" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120824080320/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fauna-of-australia/pubs/volume2a/28-fauna-2a-squamata-pygopodidae.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120824080320/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fauna-of-australia/pubs/volume2a/28-fauna-2a-squamata-pygopodidae.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>