Sphaerodactyl geckos comprise five genera distributed across Central and South America and the Caribbean. We estimated phylogenetic relationships among sphaerodactyl genera using both separate and combined analyses of seven nuclear genes. Relationships among genera were incongruent at different loci and phylogenies were characterized by short, in some cases zero length, internal branches and poor phylogenetic support at most nodes. We recovered a polyphyletic Coleodactylus, with Coleodactylus amazonicus being deeply divergent from the remaining Coleodactylus species sampled. The C. amazonicus lineage possessed unique codon deletions in the genes PTPN12 and RBMX while the remaining Coleodactylus species had unique codon deletions in RAG1. Topology tests could not reject a monophyletic Coleodactylus, but we show that short internal branch lengths decreased the accuracy of topology tests because there were not enough data along short branches to support one phylogenetic hypothesis over another. Morphological data corroborated results of the molecular phylogeny, with Coleodactylus exhibiting substantial morphological heterogeneity. We identified a suite of unique craniofacial features that differentiate C. amazonicus not only from other Coleodactylus species, but also from all other geckos. We describe this novel sphaerodactyl lineage as a new genus, Chatogekko gen. nov. We present a detailed osteology of Chatogekko, characterizing osteological correlates of miniaturization that provide a framework for future studies in sphaerodactyl systematics and biology.

中文翻译：

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来自南美洲的一新属小型虎鼻壁虎（Sphaerodactylidae：Gekkota）


球指守宫由五个属组成，分布在中美洲、南美洲和加勒比地区。我们通过对七个核基因的单独和组合分析来估计球指属之间的系统发育关系。属之间的关系在不同位点上不一致，系统发育的特点是内部分支短（有时为零长度），并且大多数节点的系统发育支持较差。我们发现了一种多系的鞘指龙，其中亚马逊鞘指龙与其余采样的鞘指龙物种有很大不同。 C. amazonicus 谱系在基因 PTPN12 和 RBMX 中具有独特的密码子缺失，而其余鞘指藻物种在 RAG1 中具有独特的密码子缺失。拓扑测试不能拒绝单系鞘指龙，但我们表明，较短的内部分支长度降低了拓扑测试的准确性，因为沿着短分支没有足够的数据来支持一种系统发育假设而不是另一种。形态学数据证实了分子系统发育的结果，鞘指龙表现出显着的形态异质性。我们发现了一系列独特的颅面特征，这些特征不仅将亚马逊壁虎与其他鞘指虎物种区分开来，而且还与所有其他壁虎区分开来。我们将这种新颖的球指龙谱系描述为一个新属，Chatogekko gen。十一月我们提出了 Chatogekko 的详细骨学，描述了小型化的骨学相关性，为未来的球指龙系统学和生物学研究提供了框架。