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Mabuya mabouya (BONNATERRE, 1789)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Greater Martinique Skink 
SynonymLacertus mabouya LACÉPÈDE 1788: 378 (part.)
Lacerta mabouya — BONNATERRE 1789: 51
Scincus mabouya — DAUDIN 1802
Lacerta mabouya — SHAW 1802:287
Scincus mabouya — DAUDIN 1803:375
Scincus cepedii — MERREM 1820:71
Mabuya dominicensis FITZINGER 1826: 52 (nom. subst.)
Scincus mabouya — GRAY 1831:69
Tiliqua cepedii COCTEAU 1837 (nom. subst.)
Eumeces mabouia — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 646 (part; incorr. emendation)
Tiliqua cepedii — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 646
Mabouya cepedii — GRAY 1845:95 (part)
Mabuia cepedii — COPE 1862: 186 (part)
Mabuia Cepedi — BOCOURT 1879:406 (part)
Mabuia alliacea — GÜNTHER 1885: 33
Mabuia agilis GÜNTHER 1888 (non Mabuia agilis RADDI 1820)
Mabuia agilis nigropunctata — BOULENGER 1887:192
Mabuya mabouia — BARBOUR 1914:321 (part; incorrect emendation)
Mabuya mabouia — BARBOUR 1930
Mabuya mabouya mabouya — DUNN 1935: 537 (part.)
Mabuya mabuya mabuya — SLEVIN 1942: 467
Mabuya mabouya mabouya — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 156
Mabuya mabouya — DUELLMAN 1978: 208
Mabuya mabouya — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 456
Mabuya mabuya — KORNACKER 1997
Mabuya “mabouya” — GREER et al. 2000
Mabuya mabouya — MAUSFELD et al. 2002
Mabuya mabouya — BREUIL 2002:267 (part).
Mabuya mabouya — MIRALLES, 2005:49 (part).
Mabuya mabouya — HENDERSON & POWELL, 2009:292 (part)
Mabuya mabouya — HEDGES & CONN 2012: 111 
DistributionMartinique

Type locality: “Antilles” ; Restricted to the Lesser Antilles by DUNN 1935. Further restricted to St. Vincent by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950. Type locality of the lectotype: “Martinique”.  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesNeotype: MNHN-RA 5421 (designated by Miralles 2005)
Syntype: USNM 30620, but given as unknown by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus). Species in this genus are characterized by (1) frontoparietals, two, (2) supraciliaries, four (occasionally three, five, or six), (3) supraoculars, three, in at least some individuals of all species, with two occurring in some individuals of Mabuya grandisterrae sp. nov. and M. guadeloupae sp. nov., and four occurring in some individuals of M. mabouya and M. dominicana, (4) prefrontal contact, absent (or contact rarely), (5) parietal contact, present, (6) rows of nuchals, one (occasionally two), (7) dorsals + ventrals, 116–138, (8) total lamellae, 211–253, (9) a dark middorsal stripe, absent, (10) dark dorsolateral stripes, absent (thin line on nape in M. guadeloupae sp. nov. and in some M. dominicana), (11) a dark lateral stripe, present, and (12) dark ventral striping, absent. Most species are large, with a range of maximum body sizes among the species of 92.3–106 mm SVL (Table 2).


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CommentRelationships: Mabuya, Marisora, and Aspronema are paraphyletic in the phylogenetic analysis of Pereira & Schrago 2017.

Distribution: This species has been restricted to Martinique by revalidating a number of synonyms for other populations (HEDGES & CONN 2012). The specimen from Colombia (from Juan Arredondo) is probably Copeoglossum nigropunctatum fide Hedges & Conn 2012.

Similar species: Has been confused with many similar species, especially since Hedges & Conn 2012 split up the Mabuya maboua complex. Its relationship to M. bistriata is somewhat unclear. Mabuia dominicana GARMAN 1887 (synonym fide GÜNTHER 1888) and others have been removed from the synonymy fo M. mabouya.

Subspecies: Mabuya mabouya sloanei has been elevated to species status.

Type species: Lacerta mabouya Bonnaterre, 1789:51 is the type species of the genus Mabuya FITZINGER 1826 (not Lacertus mabouya Lacèpede, 1788: 378; see ICZN, 2005, Opinion 2104). Note that SAVAGE (2003) suggested to reject Lacepède’s (1788) “Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupèdes Ovipares” as a non-binominal work (Case 3226; Bull. Zool. Nom. 60 (2)). This application has been successful. The ICZN (2005) has ruled that Lacepède’s (1788) work (and all subsequent editions of this work) are rejected as an unavailable, non-binominal work. The genus names Mabuia Cuvier, 1829:64 and Mabouya Duméril & Bibron, 1839:579 are unjustified emendations. Bahmani et al. 2016 stated that Mabouya dominicensis Fitzinger 1826 (= Lacertus Mabouya Lacepede) is the type species of Mabuya.
Mabuya is also the type genus of the family Mabuyidae Hedges & Conn 2012: 28 and of the tribus Mabuyini Mittleman 1952 (fide Shea 2021).

MIRALLES (2005) stated that the figure of Lacertus mabouya provided by LACÉPÈDE 1788 was not detailed enough to distinguish it from Chalcides ocellatus, a Mediterranean species. LACÉPÈDE also gave “Sardinia” as type locality (in addition to “Antilles”). BREUIL (2002) concluded that the type specimen was probably caught on Martinique.

Conservation: This species is now very rare in the Antilles, except in Dominica, and is probably vanished from Martinique [MIRALLES, pers. comm.].

Abundance: Rare. This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024. 
EtymologyThe species name (mabouya) is a feminine singular noun derived from the same name used by native peoples of the Americas, especially the Antilles, for various types of lizards.

The genus name Mabuya is derived from the same name used by native peoples of the Americas, especially the Antilles, for various types of lizards. The gender of the genus is feminine (Mausfeld et al. 2002: 289). 
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