are Lygodactylus related to Phelsuma

[lessthantito]

I cannot find much info on these guys mostly pics and they look a lot like Phelsuma so I thought they might be related

 

[the moof]

they are, in many many ways, similar. Both are (mostly) diurnal, have the same toe and foot structure, have the same build, dietary needs, range, etc. But the main difference, i believe, is in genetics and bone structures. As you may have noticed, lygodactylus are generally much smaller than phelsuma, which is one of the main differences. I have often wondered what exactly defines the two genuses, but i suppose it is just one of the taxonomic fiddly bits.
I'm sure somewhere on the web you will be able to find a bit more detail. Even my in-depth Madagascar Natural History book doesn't go into detail defining the two. appearance-wise they are generally very different (colouration), though a few are more mottled and would appear to be closely (to the eye) related to lygodactlyus.

i hope this helps, but do more research if you are more curious

 

[lessthantito]

thanks that was pretty helpful what I have found out on the web isnt very detailed and some is in german or dutch which never helps

 

[slygecko]

A phylogeny of all of gekkota by Han, Zhou, and Bauer, 2004, indicates that Phelsuma and Lygodactylus are sister genera.

Cheers,
Nick

 

[the moof]

ahh thanks that does help. My reference doesn't go too deep into the phylogeny of it all.