Mabuya
Encyclopedia
Mabuya is a genus
of long-tailed skink
s nowadays restricted to species
from the Americas
. The American mabuyas are primarily carnivorous, though many are omnivorous. Formerly, many Old World
species were placed here, as Mabuya was a kind of "wastebasket taxon". These are now placed in the genera Chioninia
, Eutropis
and Trachylepis
.
The ancestors of the genus are believed to have rafted
across the Atlantic from Africa
during the last 9 million years.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of long-tailed skink
Skink
Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae. Together with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae , they comprise the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha...
s nowadays restricted to species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
from the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. The American mabuyas are primarily carnivorous, though many are omnivorous. Formerly, many Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
species were placed here, as Mabuya was a kind of "wastebasket taxon". These are now placed in the genera Chioninia
Chioninia
The skink genus Chioninia belongs to the subfamily Lygosominae. For long, this genus was included in the "wastebin taxon" Mabuya; it contains the Cape Verde mabuyas.-Description:...
, Eutropis
Eutropis
The skink genus Eutropis belongs to the subfamily Lygosominae. For long, this genus was included in the "wastebin taxon" Mabuya; it contains the Asian mabuyas...
and Trachylepis
Trachylepis
Trachylepis is a skink genus in the subfamily Lygosominae found mainly in Africa. Its members were formerly included in the "wastebin taxon" Mabuya, and for some time in Euprepis. As defined today, Trachylepis contains the clade of Afro-Malagasy mabuyas. The genus also contains a species from the...
.
The ancestors of the genus are believed to have rafted
Rafting event
Oceanic dispersal is a type of biological dispersal that occurs when organisms transfer from one land mass to another by way of a sea crossing on large clumps of floating vegetation. Such matted clumps of vegetation are often seen floating down major rivers in the tropics and washing out to sea,...
across the Atlantic from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
during the last 9 million years.
Species
- Mabuya agilis (Raddi, 1823)
- Mabuya agmosticha (Rodrigues, 2000)
- Mabuya altamazonica (Miralles, Barrio-Amorós, Rivas, Chaparro-Auza, 2006)
- Mabuya arajara (Reboucas-Spieker, 1981) – Arajara Mabuya
- Mabuya berengerae (Miralles, 2006)
- Mabuya bistriataMabuya bistriataMabuya bistriata is a species of skink found in South America and some islands in the Caribbean. Common names include the Two-Striped Mabuya and the Shiny Lizard...
(Spix, 1825) – Shiny Mabuya, Shiny Lizard, Two-striped MabuyaMabuya bistriataMabuya bistriata is a species of skink found in South America and some islands in the Caribbean. Common names include the Two-Striped Mabuya and the Shiny Lizard...
- Mabuya caissara (Reboucas-Spieker, 1974) – Caissara Squamata
- Mabuya carvalhoi (Reboucas-Spieker & Vanzolini, 1990) – Carvalho's Mabuya
- Mabuya cochabambae (Dunn, 1935)
- Mabuya croizati (Horton,1973) – Horton's Mabuya
- Mabuya dorsivittata (Cope, 1862) – Paraguay Mabuya
- Mabuya falconensis (Mijares-Urrtia & Arends, 1997)
- Mabuya frenata (Cope, 1862) – Cope's Mabuya
- Mabuya guaporicola (Dunn, 1935) – Dunn's Mabuya.
- Mabuya heathi (Schmidt & Inger, 1951) – Brazilian Mabuya
- Mabuya infralineata (Boettger, 1913)
- Mabuya lineolata (Noble & Hassler, 1933) – Lined Mabuya
- Mabuya luciae (Garman, 1887)
- Mabuya mabouyaMabuya mabouyaMabuya mabouya is a species of skink found on certain islands in the Caribbean. It has shiny, bronze-colored skin, with a pair of light stripes that run along its upper flanks....
(Bonnaterre, 1789) - Mabuya macleani (Mayer & Lazell, 2000) – Slippery Back
- Mabuya macrophthalma (Mausfeld & Bõhme, 2002)
- Mabuya macrorhyncha (Hoge, 1946) – Hoge's Mabuya
- Mabuya nigropalmata (Andersson, 1918) – Black Mabuya
- Mabuya nigropunctataMabuya nigropunctataMabuya nigropunctata is a species of skink found in South America. It has shiny bronze or copper skin, with a dark longitudinal stripe along each flank that is often bordered by cream-colored lines....
(Spix, 1825) – Black-spotted Mabuya - Mabuya ozorii (Bocage, 1893)
- Mabuya sloaniiMabuya sloaniiMabuya sloanii is a species of skink native to the Caribbean, where it is found in the Greater Antilles and in the northernmost Lesser Antilles.-External links:* at the Reptile Database...
(Daudin, 1803) – Slippery-backed Mabuya - Mabuya unimarginata (Cope, 1862) – Central American Mabuya
External links
- Mabuya by Cyberlizard at web.archive.org
- Scincidae at EMBL Heidelberg