Chioninia vaillantii | |
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Vaillant's skink in the Prague Zoo | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Family: | Scincidae |
Genus: | Chioninia |
Species: | C. vaillantii
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Binomial name | |
Chioninia vaillantii (
Boulenger, 1887)
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Synonyms [2] | |
Chioninia vaillantii, also known commonly as Vaillant's mabuya or Vaillant's skink, is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the Cape Verde Islands. [2] There are two recognized subspecies.
C. vaillantii is listed as endangered by the IUCN because the species occurs as a very fragmented population, and the quality of its habitat is declining. [1]
Vaillant's mabuya occurs on the islands Fogo and Santiago, and the islet Ilhéu de Cima. [1]
The preferred natural habitat of C. vaillantii is shrubland. [1]
C. vaillantii is viviparous. [2]
Two subspecies are recognized as being valid including the nominotypical subspecies.
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Chioninia.
The specific name, vaillantii, is in honor of French herpetologist Léon Louis Vaillant. [3]