Vaillant's mabuya

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.

Chioninia vaillantii
Vaillant's skink in the Prague Zoo
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Scinciformata
Infraorder:	Scincomorpha
Family:	Mabuyidae
Genus:	Chioninia
Species:	C. vaillantii
Binomial name
Chioninia vaillantii (Boulenger, 1887)
Synonyms[2]
Mabuia vaillantii Boulenger, 1887 Mabuya vaillantii — Greer, 1976 Chioninia vaillantii — Mausfeld et al., 2002

Conservation status

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]

Geographic range

Vaillant's mabuya occurs on the islands Fogo and Santiago, and the islet Ilhéu de Cima.^[1]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of C. vaillantii is shrubland.^[1]

Reproduction

C. vaillantii is viviparous.^[2]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid including the nominotypical subspecies.

• Chioninia vaillantii vaillantii (Boulenger, 1887)
• Chioninia vaillantii xanthotis Miralles, Vasconcelos, Perera, Harris & Carranza, 2010

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Chioninia.

Etymology

The specific name, vaillantii, is in honor of French herpetologist Léon Louis Vaillant.^[3]