Post‐ovipositional staging series of the foveate, gold‐dust day gecko, Phelsuma laticauda (Gekkota: Squamata)

BACKGROUND: Disorders affecting the fovea, a specialized pit in the human retina necessary for high acuity vision, represent a significant healthcare burden across the globe. Degenerative diseases (e.g., macular degeneration) and developmental conditions (e.g., albinism and aniridia) affecting the fovea can lead to irreversible, central vision loss. These conditions are challenging to study because commonly used laboratory animal models lack a fovea. Many day geckos have a fovea and are easy to care for, however, they lack a complete embryonic staging series. RESULTS: We established a breeding colony of the gold-dust day gecko, Phelsuma laticauda, and generated post-ovipositional embryonic staging series chronicling changes in body and eye morphology throughout gestation. CONCLUSIONS: P. laticauda undergoes early asymmetric ocular remodeling and the prospective foveal region transiently elongates and retracts during the final third of embryonic development, a progression consistent with other foveate lizards and humans. These findings support day geckos as a promising model for understanding foveal development and potentially relevant disease pathways.