Common Five-lined Skink
The common five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) is a shiny, small lizard of eastern North America. Juveniles have bright blue tails, and adult males develop red heads in the breeding season.
The common five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) is a shiny, small lizard of eastern North America. Juveniles have bright blue tails, and adult males develop red heads in the breeding season.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Common Five-lined Skink in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Reptilia lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Blue Tail as a Decoy
The bright tail attracts the attention of predators to a part of the body that can be shed. The wriggling tail distracts the attacker while the skink escapes, and a new tail regrows. The blue fades as the animal grows.
Brooding Mothers
Females lay eggs in rotting logs and stay with them, turning them and defending them from predators and fungi until they hatch.
Forest Edge Dwellers
Skinks live in woodlands, rock piles and logs and eat insects and spiders. Similar-looking species share its range. See Blue-tongued Skink.
Common Five-lined Skink at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Plestiodon fasciatus |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Squamata |
| Family | Scincidae |
| Field Guide group | Reptilia (Reptiles) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Smooth glossy scales; juveniles have five cream stripes and a bright blue tail that breaks off to distract predators. |
| IUCN Red List status | Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007 |
| Family | Scincidae |
| Juvenile tail | Bright blue |