NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
African Five-lined Skink
Trachylepis quinquetaeniata (Lichtenstein, 1823)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The African five-lined skink (Trachylepis quinquetaeniata, formerly Mabuya quinquetaeniata), or rainbow mabuya, is a north-central African species of skink lizard.
T. margaritifera is another closely related skink species that is also called the "rainbow skink" (although it occurs primarily in Eastern Africa); T. margaritifera, overall, possesses more colourful, "rainbow"-like scales (as opposed to the predominantly blue, black and yellowish five-lined skink, T. quinquetaeniata).
Wikipedia contributors, Trachylepis quinquetaeniata; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:49:11.104493+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Trachylepis quinquetaeniata (Lichtenstein, 1823)
- Name authority
- (Lichtenstein, 1823)
- Common name
- African Five-lined Skink
- 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 quinquetaeniata (Lichtenstein, 1823)
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 |
| Rodenburg's MabuyaTrachylepis rodenburgi (Hoogmoed, 1974) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Mabuia intermedia Chabanaud, 1917 Chabanaud, 1917 | synonym |
| Mabuia semicollaris Werner, 1917 Werner, 1917 | synonym |
| Scincus quinquetaeniatus Lichtenstein, 1823 Lichtenstein, 1823 | synonym |
| Mabuia quinquetaeniata riggenbachi Sternfeld, 1917 Sternfeld, 1917 | synonym |
| Mabuia quinquetaeniata scharica Sternfeld, 1917 Sternfeld, 1917 | synonym |
| Euprepes savignyi Duméril & Bibron, 1839 Duméril & Bibron, 1839 | 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=quinquetaeniata 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:57RF7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.