Coal Skink

About the Coal Skink

Plestiodon anthracinus, the coal skink, is a species of lizard which is endemic to the United States. It is a mid-sized lizard with short well developed legs, and overlap when addressed in most specimens, except gravid females. It grows to 13–18 cm (5.1–7.1 in) in total length with a maximum snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 7 cm (2.8 in). It is a four-lined skink whose light stripes extend onto the tail. The broad dark lateral stripe is 4–4.5 scales wide and there are no light lines on top of the head. The dorsolateral light stripe is on the edges of the 3rd and 4th scale rows, counting from midline of back. One postmental scale is present. The sides of the head of the male are reddish during spring breeding season, at least in some parts of the range.

Two subspecies of the coal skink are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies: Northern coal skink – Plestiodon anthracinus anthracinus Baird, 1850 Southern coal skink – Plestiodon anthracinus pluvialis (Cope, 1880)

The (northern) coal skink was first described by Baird in 1850; the southern subspecies P. a. pluvialis was identified by Cope in 1880. They are the near the ancestral form for the... Wikipedia →