within the past decade, diversity records within Diplodactylidae have increased substantially, from 54 species to almost 140 species. This is due in large part to improvement in taxon sampling and molecular analyses, as well as the growing recognition of the cryptic diversity that still exists within the family. The following cladogram represents the structure of Diplodactylidae in a phylogenetic analysis by Skipwith et al., 2019. Origins Although origins of the Diplodactylidae have long been debated, the Gondwanan vicariance hypothesis has generally supplanted most arguments for dispersal across land-bridges or by sea. The first gecko-wide genetic analysis found support for a split of Eastern Gondwanaland from Western Gondwanaland and evidence that Eastern Gondwanan lineages of Diplodactylidae, Pygopodidae and Carphodactylidae appear older than lineages in the Gekkonidae. These findings have been upheld and clarified in subsequent dating analyses. Most molecular divergence studies agree that diplodactylids were likely present prior to the final breakup of Australia and Antarctica with diversification of crown diplodactyloids occurring between the late Cretaceous or the earliest Paleogene periods. A recent phylogenomic analysis suggests independent colonization events to New Zealand and New Caledonia after the K-T extinction in the late Paleogene and early Neogene, respectively. Due to the range of these dispersals, and fossil evidence showing that New Zealand was likely submerged during the Oligocene as was New Caledonia during the Paleocene, it has been suggested that both the New Zealand and New Caledonian colonizations may have been a result of over-water dispersal events after all. Conservation Of the approximately 149 species currently described, 30 are listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered, and 28 as Near Threatened or Vulnerable. Another three are listed as data deficient [as of October 2021]. References Further reading Underwood G. 1954. On the classification and evolution of geckos. Proc. Zool. Soc. London'' 124''' (3): 469–492. (Diplodactylidae, new family). Lizard families Taxa named by Garth Underwood Extant Paleocene first appearances