Evolution of habitat preference in 243 species of Bent-toed geckos (Genus Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827) with a discussion of karst habitat conservation

Ancestral state reconstructions of nine different habitat preferences across a phylogeny composed of 76% of the gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus recover a general habitat preference as being ancestral to all other habitat preferences. The data show that Cyrtodactylus composes an ecologically labile group of species and the frequency of transitioning from a general habitat preference to anything more specialized occurs nearly four times more often than the reverse. Species showing extreme morphological and/or ecological specializations appear to be evolutionary dead ends that do not give rise to species bearing other habitat preferences. Habitat preferences have not evolved randomly across the genus but are generally restricted to clades that tend to occur in specific geographic regions. The largest radiations in the genus occur in rocky habitats (granite and karst), indicating that the transition from a general habitat preference to a granite or karst-dwelling life style is ecologically unc...