Bronze-backed Skink

Mabuya unimarginata

Description:

Poking it's head out from a crack against the wall of Gilma's house in San Ramon, Costa Rica. Mabuya is a genus of long-tailed skinks restricted to species from the Americas.

Habitat:

It occupies a variety of habitats ranging from tropical seasonal dry to very wet. It is more common in clear, forest edges and in open areas created by man. It is both arboreal and terrestrial.

3 Species ID Suggestions

MUSE 10 years ago

Snake-eyed Skink

Ablepharus Ablepharus

bayucca 10 years ago

Brown Forest Skink

Sphenomorphus cherriei INBio. Species of Costa Rica -Sphenomorphus cherriei

BrendanSmith 10 years ago

Central American Mabuya

Mabuya unimarginata

12 Comments

BrendanSmith 10 years ago

This is a Mabuya becuase it has 2 frontoparietal plates. S. cherriei will have 1 plate.

pamsai 10 years ago

Glad to hear you are going as yourself bayucca. Enjoy the pizza!

bayucca 10 years ago

No hurry, I am going to the Pizzeria first, uncamouflaged ;-)...

pamsai 10 years ago

thanks Gilma... You'll have to be fast or camouflaged!

bayucca 10 years ago

No, yours is an Ameiva and this is for sure a skink.

Gilma Jeannette Ospino Ferreira-Norman 10 years ago

Pam, you got a great picture of it, considering that he just poke out for a second, I will look for it and post picture.
bayucca, I am wondering if it is like the "Mature" one that lives in the wood pile, 8 meters from where Pam found it??
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/372...

pamsai 10 years ago

thanks bayucca, I only had the one phoro. I asked Gilma to look out for it and try and take another photo, so lets hope it shows itself again.

bayucca 10 years ago

Pam and Gilma! If you have any other picture of this one, please, post it. I am still not convinced about the ID: Sphenomorphus cherriei or Mabuya unimarginata. I think there are also not all of them on the web correctly IDed. I suggest that you leave it "unknown" for a little moment, until we have more pictures or a real expert opinion. I asked Juan to check some of his IDs, or better: explain me the difference between the 2 species, but did not get any answer until now...

pamsai 10 years ago

bayucca, saw it at Gilma's and only got this 1 chance. I'll ask her to keep an eye out for it and take a photo. It lived in a crack outside her back door!