Some remarkable specimens of the giant Cape Verde Skink, macroscincus coctei (duméril & bibron, 1839), with notes about its distribution and causes of its possible extinction

Abstract

At the end of the nineteenth century, about 40 live specimens of the presumably now extinct giant Cape Verde skink, Macroscincus coctei, were imported into Italy by M. G. Peracca. Currently 26 adult specimens (11 males and 15 females) and six eggs, whose provenance is likely Ilhéu Branco, have been located in the her-petological collection of Turin University. Other six specimens exchanged by Peracca are currently present at Treviso ('Seminario Vescovile'). This paper provides information about them, together with data on some further specimens preserved in two other Italian museums. At Genoa there are six specimens (four males and two juveniles) from Ilhéu Branco and Ilhéu Razo; at Florence a single male is preserved and bears, as provenance locality, Säo Vicente. Besides its museological relevance, the Turin and Treviso series can provide some biométrie and meristic information, until now limited to a few specimens. The snout-vent length of the individuals from Turin pooled together with specimens held at Treviso (belonging to the former Peracca's collection) is 285.85 ± 25.12 mm in males and 253–50 ± 17.00 mm in females; sexes differ also in several bio-metric ratios: males have in general a larger and longer head and longer hindlegs. The maximum scale number at midbody is 114 in both adult sexes and 110 in the smallest juvenile. Their colouration can be assigned to three colour morphs (grey, yellow, and intermediate). It is argued that the 11 males still preserved in Turin may be those measured by Peracca. The presence of the species at Säo Vicente is also discussed, but most likely it is due to inaccuracy on the label accompanying the Florence specimen. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.