Mabuyas

Mabuyinae is a subfamily of lizards, commonly known as skinks, within the family Scincidae. The genera in this subfamily were previously found to belong the Mabuya group in the large subfamily Lygosominae.

They have a pantropical distribution, being found throughout the tropics of Asia, Africa, and the Americas (but excluding most of Australasia aside from Eutropis multifasciata, found in New Guinea). Although originating in and having most species in the Old World, they managed to colonize the Americas in the Miocene; the common ancestor of the American genera is thought to have rafted across the Atlantic from Africa to South America about 18 million years ago, with the skinks diversifying across the Americas and evolving into many new genera.