Cape Verde giant skink
Cape Verde giant skink | |
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Illustration, 1885 | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Family: | Scincidae |
Genus: | Chioninia |
Species: | †C. coctei
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Binomial name | |
†Chioninia coctei (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1839)
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Synonyms[2] | |
The Cape Verde giant skink (Chioninia coctei), also called Bibron's skink, Cocteau's skink, and lagarto in
Taxonomy
The Cape Verde giant skink was first given the
In 2001, a
Description
The Cape Verde giant skink was
The teeth were located labiolingually, compressed, multicuspidate,[8] pleurodontid and pterygoid.[9]
There were three color
Males reached their maximum size quicker than females, had a larger head, more robust jaws, and longer hindlegs. Older males had thick, hanging dewlaps that are unusual for skinks.[9]
Distribution
Behaviour and ecology
The behavior of the Cape Verde giant skink is largely unknown due to the lack of
The transparent lower eyelid may have been an adaptation to spot predators below while giant skinks slept on the lower canopy with their eyes closed. In that case
The Cape Verde giant skink's long digestive track, abundant and varied
Preserved giant skinks have belly-button slits indicative of viviparous matrotrophy, yet a captive female was documented as laying a clutch of seven eggs over fifteen days in 1891, purely white colored and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Other eggs are preserved at the Regional Museum of Turin. It is possible that the species used both modes of reproduction, like the sheen skink (Eugongylus albofasciolatus), where the same female was documented alternating between them.[9]
The species was very tame in captivity, and probably was long lived and reproduced slowly, like other island reptiles.[3]
Extinction
The "Mindelo" island broke up when sea levels rose at the end of the Pleistocene, fragmenting the Cape Verde giant skink's population. The local climate also became more arid in the
Giant skinks survived for longer in Branco and Raso, as they were not settled and remained free of introduced mammals. In 1783, Feijó wrote that the inhabitants of the Islands used the skins of Branco lizards to make shoes.
The rediscovery of the species, its rarity, large size and tameness drove up the demand of specimens for European
Despite Peracca's efforts, no breeding colony was successfully established in captivity.
References
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Species Chioninia coctei at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Mateo, J. A., Barone, R., Hernández-Acosta, C. N., & López-Jurado, L. F. (2020) La muerte anunciada de dos gigantes macaronésicos: el gran escinco caboverdiano, Chioninia coctei (Duméril & Bibron, 1839) y el lagarto de Salmor, Gallotia simonyi (Steindachner, 1889). Bol. Asoc. Herpetol. Esp. Vol. 31 (2), pgs. 3-30.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Macroscincus coctei, p.56).
- ^ Bocage, J.V.B. (1873) Sur l' habitat et les caractères zoologiques du "Macroscincus coctei" ("Euprepes coctei " Dum. et Bibr.). Jornal de Sciencias Mathemáticas, Physicas e Naturais, 4: 295–306.
- PMID 11487407.
- ^ Karin, B. R., Metallinou, M., Weinell, J. L., Jackman, T. R., & Bauer, A. M. (2016). Resolving the higher-order phylogenetic relationships of the circumtropical Mabuya group (Squamata: Scincidae): An out-of-Asia diversification. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 102, 220-232.
- ^ .
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Schnirel, Brian L. (May 2004). "SENI biometric analysis on the extinct Scincidae species: Macroscincus coctei ". Polyphemos (Florence, South Carolina) 1 (2): 12–22.
Further sources
- Adler GH, Austin CC, Dudley R (1995). "Dispersal and speciation of skinks among archipelagos in the tropical Pacific ocean". Evolutionary Ecology 9: 529–541.
- Austin CC (1995). "Molecular and morphological evolution in south Pacific scincid lizards: morphological conservatism and phylogenetic relationships of Papuan Lipinia (Scincidae)". Herpetologica 51: 291–300.
- Day, David (1979). Vanished Species. London: Gallery Books. pp. 254–255.
- Duméril AMC, Bibron G (1839). Erpétologie générale ou Histoire naturelle complète des Reptiles. Tome cinquième. [= General Herpetology or Complete Natural History of the Reptiles. Volume 5]. Paris: Roret. viii + 854 pp. (Euprepes coctei, new species, pp. 666–668). (in French).
- Grzimek, Bernhard (1975). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Volume 6, Reptiles. New York: Van Nostrand- Reinhold Company. pp. 178–179 .
- Hartdegen, Ruston W. (September 2003). "The green tree skink". Reptiles Magazine (Boulder, Colorado) 11 (9): 42–50.
- Honda M, Ota H, Kobayashi M, Nabhitabhata J, Yong H-S, Hikida T (1999). "Evolution of Asian and African Lygosomine Skinks of the Mabuya Group (Reptilia: Scincidae): A Molecular Perspective". Zoological Science 16 (6): 979–984.
- Love, Bill (January 2003). "Mystery skink. Herpetological quiries". Reptiles Magazine 11 (1): 12.
- Pether, Jim (April 2003). "In search of Macroscincus coctei ". Reptiles Magazine 11 (4): 70–81.
- de Vosjoli, Phillippe; Fast, Frank (1995). "Account from the Daily journals of Phillippe de Vosjoli". The Vivarium (Escondido, California) 6 (5): 4–7, 12–17, 36–38, 40–44.
- de Vosjoli, Phillippe; Fast, Frank (1995). "Notes from a herpetological field trip to New Caledonia (Part II) – Notes on three species of New Caledonian geckos of the Genus Rhactodactylus ". The Vivarium 6 (6): 26–29, 53–54.
- Walls, Jerry G. (1994). Skinks: identification, care, and breeding. Neptune City, New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications. pp. 52–58.