Mabuya heathi is the historical scientific name of a Brazilian skink now listed as Brasiliscincus heathi. The name used in older reproductive studies identifies the same species under an earlier generic classification.[ref]
The species is important in the study of viviparity and placental matrotrophy. In a 1984 study, Daniel G. Blackburn and colleagues compared the small ovulated eggs with developing offspring and examined the reproductive tissues. They reported eggs about one millimetre across and estimated that placental transfer supplied more than of fetal dry mass near birth. The estimate concerns dry material accumulated during development, rather than simply uptake of water.[ref]
The comparison demonstrates that live birth can involve extensive maternal nutrient supply after ovulation. Its similarity to nutritional support in placental mammals is an example of convergent evolution; it does not place the skink within the mammalian lineage.

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