The one exception is Phelsuma andamanense, which is endemic to the Andaman islands in the Bay of Bengal.
The genus Phelsuma was first described by the British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1825 and named after the Dutch physician Murk van Phelsum.
Two Phelsuma species (Phelsuma gigas and Phelsuma edwardnewtoni) are now considered to be extinct, probably because of destruction of their environment by human settlers and their domestic animals.