Common Five-lined Skink
Plestiodon fasciatus
Common Five-lined Skink 2
The Common Five-lined Skink is similar to the Little Brown Skink, but larger and more brightly colored. These lizards have very smooth, shiny scales and very small legs. Combined with their rapid, slithering movements, this can make them look like small snakes. Five-lined Skinks have a very bold pattern of dark brown or black stripes on a light brown background. Young skinks have bright, turquoise-blue tails that are probably used to distract predators; predators attack the brightly-colored tail (which the skink can detach) instead of the body, allowing the lizard to escape and regrow its tail. Adult male skinks develop bright orange throats and heads during the breeding season.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Vicki's Nature, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/7327719@N06/3516181309
- Adapted by hancnaturalist from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plestiodon_fasciatus
More Info
iNat Map
| Pattern | stripes |
|---|---|
| Color | black, blue, brown, orange, white, yellow |
| Texture | smooth |
