Great Plains Skink
|
|
| Great Plains Skink | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||||
| Eumeces obsoletus Baird and Girard, 1852 |
The Great Plains Skink (Eumeces obsoletus) is — together with the Broad-headed Skink — the largest skink of the genus Eumeces. It reaches a length of 9 to 13 cm (3.5 to 5 inches) from snout to vent or up to nearly 34 cm (13.5 in) total length (including the tail).
This lizard is light gray or beige in color; its dorsal scales have black or dark brown edges. The scales on the sides run diagonally. The belly is yellow. Juveniles are black with white sports on the lips and the head and have a blue or blueish tail.
The Great Plains Skink is very common on the Great Plains, ranging from south-eastern Wyoming and Nebraska (and also Fremont County, Iowa) down to eastern Arizona, Texas, and into Mexico.
This skink lives in open plains habitat or the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in areas near water, e.g. irrigation ditches. In southeastern Colorado, it occurs in elevation up to about 1900 m (7200 ft); in northern Colorado, only at elevations below about 1400 m (4500 ft).
The mating season of the Great Plains Skink is in April or May. The female lays between 5 and 32 eggs (on the average about 12) in early summer, which she guards until they hatch in late summer.
External links
- Description of the Great Plains Skink (http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/reptiles/lizards/great_plains_skink.html)
- Another Description (http://ndis.nrel.colostate.edu/wildlifespx.asp?SpCode=030700) from the Colorado Division of Wildlife
Selected literature
- Collins, J.T. (1993); Amphibians and reptiles in Kansas, 3rd ed. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.