McMartinVille--Reptiles

 
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Five-lined Skink

Order:  Squamata (scaled reptiles)
Suborder:  Lacertilia (=Sauria) (lizards)
Family:  Scincidae (skinks)
Genus:  Eumeces (North American skinks)
Also known as:  "scorpion" (young have blue tails, and are thought by some to be poisonous)

Scientific Name:  Eumeces fasciatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Habitat:  Open woodland to forest edge.

Eu="good," mekos="length," fasciatus="striped"

Length: To 8.5 inches total.
Food:  Various insects and arachnids. Five-lined Skink Range

This is a (blurry) picture of a young five-lined skink among the leaf litter in the woods near Bull Shoals Lake.  It had just scurried across the trail in front of me, and stopped momentarily.  After it stopped, it slowly twitched and curled its tail, a behavior known as "caudal luring."  It is thought to attract a potential predator's attention to the brightly-colored tail, which can be broken off and later regrown.  The idea is that the predator will go after the tail, allowing the now-tailless lizard to escape to safety.

Juvenile Five-lined Skink
The next two pictures are of another young five-lined skink found under tin in southwest Arkansas in October 2004.  This individual's tail is proportionately shorter and thicker than the above-pictured skink.  This may be an indicator of gender. Five-Lined Skink
There are more pictures of five-lined skinks on the North Carolina, Missouri, and South Carolina pages. Closeup of Head