On the taxonomic recognition of skinks from the Guadeloupe Archipelago (Squamata, Mabuyidae, Mabuya)

Abstract

The six species of mabuyid lizards (skinks) of the Guadeloupe Archipelago are Capitellum mariagalantae, Mabuya cochonae, M. desiradae, M. grandisterrae, M. guadeloupae, and M. parviterrae. All are critically endangered and four may be extinct, primarily from predation by introduced mammals. These six species were described in recent years from molecular and morphological analyses. Miralles et al. (2017, Bulletin de la Société Herpétologique de France, 163, 67–84) has challenged the taxonomy, claiming that the six species cannot be diagnosed from each other, and recognized only a single species, Mabuya desiradae. We find that their study contains errors that led them to that incorrect conclusion, including a probable data handling error in the molecular analysis and the use of non-diagnostic morphological characters.