NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Trachylepis atlantica (Schmidt, 1945)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Head of a Noronha skink (Trachylepis atlantica) on Fernando de Noronha island, Brazil. Original description: "A mabuia é um réptil simpático, curioso e aparentemente sempre faminto, endêmico à ilha de Fernando de Noronha. Para quem gostou do bichinho, há outra <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimsk/124238509/">aqui</a> fotografada durante nossa visita anterior à ilha. The Noronha skink is a cute little reptile. They're endemic to the island of Fernando de Noronha, are extremely curious and apparently insatiably hungry. If you liked this one, there's another shot from our previous visit to the island <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimsk/124238509/">here.</a>"
Jim Skea · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Noronha skink (Trachylepis atlantica) is a species of skink from the island of Fernando de Noronha off northeastern Brazil. It is covered with dark and light spots on the upperparts and is usually about 7 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) in length. The tail is long and muscular, but breaks off easily. Very common throughout Fernando de Noronha, it is an opportunistic feeder, eating both insects and plant material, including nectar from the Erythrina velutina tree, as well as other material ranging from cookie crumbs to eggs of its own species. Introduced predators such as feral cats prey on it and several parasitic worms infect it.
Perhaps seen by Amerigo Vespucci in 1503, it was first formally described in 1839. Its subsequent taxonomic history has been complex, riddled with confusion with Trachylepis maculata and other species, homonyms, and other problems. The species is classified in the otherwise mostly African genus Trachylepis and is thought to have reached its island from Africa by rafting. The enigmatic Trachylepis tschudii, supposedly from Peru, may well be the same species.
Wikipedia contributors, Noronha skink; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T14:54:21.277315+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Trachylepis atlantica (Schmidt, 1945)
- Name authority
- (Schmidt, 1945)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Scincidae
- Genus
- Trachylepis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyScincidae
- subfamilyMabuyinae
- genusTrachylepis
- speciesTrachylepis atlantica (Schmidt, 1945)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Trachylepis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Adamastor SkinkTrachylepis adamastor Ceriaco, 2015 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Senegal MabuyaTrachylepis affinis (Gray, 1839) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pemba Island SkinkTrachylepis albotaeniata (Boettger, 1913) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gold-spotted MabuyaTrachylepis aureopunctata (Grandidier, 1867) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bayon's MabuyaTrachylepis bayonii (Bocage, 1872) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Boettger'sMabuyaTrachylepis boettgeri (Boulenger, 1887) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Boulenger's MabuyaTrachylepis boulengeri (Sternfeld, 1911) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cape SkinkTrachylepis capensis (Gray, 1831) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Casuarina Island SkinkTrachylepis casuarinae (Broadley, 1974) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eastern Sand SkinkTrachylepis depressa (Peters, 1854) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Trachylepis dumasi (Nussbaum & Raxworthy, 1995) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| African Five-lined SkinkTrachylepis quinquetaeniata (Lichtenstein, 1823) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Mabuya atlantica Schmidt, 1945 Schmidt, 1945 | synonym |
| Tiliqua punctata Gray, 1839 Gray, 1839 | synonym |
| Mabouya punctatissima O'Shaughnessy, 1874 O'Shaughnessy, 1874 | synonym |
| Trachylepis | synonym |
| Trachylepis tschudii Miralles et al., 2009 Miralles et al., 2009 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Trachylepis&species=atlantica Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:57RD9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.