common five-lined skink

(Plestiodon fasciatus)

Conservation Status
common five-lined skink
Photo by Jeff LeClere
  IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

 
  NatureServe

N5 - Secure

S3 - Vulnerable

 
  Minnesota

Special Concern

Species in Greatest Conservation Need

 
           
 
Description
 
 

The upper (dorsal) surface has 5 distinct yellow stripes running from the head to the tip of the tail. The central stripe splits in two forming a "Y" on the top of the head.

Juveniles have a bright blue tail. Adult females have a bluish-gray tail. Adult males have a gray tail.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

5 to 8½

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Prairie skink (Plestiodon septentrionalis) lacks the "Y" shaped mark on the top of the head.

Six-lined racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineatus) has three stripes on each side.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Moist but not wet wooded areas with rock outcrops, including bluffs, forest edges, and savannas.

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Behavior

 
 

When attacked by a predator, the skink will detach its tail. The tail will continue to wiggle and distract the predator while the skink seeks cover. The tail will regrow but will not be as long or as colorful as the original.

 
     
 

Lifespan

 
 

5 to 7 years

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

 

 
     
 

Food

 
 

Crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and other insects; spiders; and snails.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 6, 14, 29, 30, 74, 76, 78.

 
  1/7/2023      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Scattered populations in only seven or eight Minnesota counties

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Class Reptilia (reptiles)  
  Superorder Lepidosauria  
  Order Squamata (snakes and lizards)  
  Suborder Lacertilia (lizards)  
  Infraorder Scincomorpha (skinks, wall lizards, and relatives)  
  Superfamily Scincoidea  
 

Family

Scincidae (skinks)  
 

Subfamily

Scincinae (typical skinks)  
 

Genus

Plestiodon (toothy skinks)  
       
 

Five-lined skink was formerly classified as Eumeces fasciatus. Recently, two separate studies, Smith (2005) and Brandley et al. (2005), proposed separating all species in North America north of Mexico into the genus Plestiodon. This was accepted by Crother (2008) and by Collins and Taggart (2009). Most sources now use this new classification. ITIS still classifies North American skinks in the genus Eumeces.

 
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

 

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Eumeces fasciatus

Lacerta fasciata

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

American five-lined skink

blue-tailed skink

common five-lined skink

five-lined skink

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

Share your photo of this reptile.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.
 
 

Jeff LeClere

 
    common five-lined skink      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
           

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
 
     
     

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

Share your video of this reptile.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.
 
 

 

 
 
 
     
       
       
 
Other Videos
 
  Blue-tailed Plestiodon fasciatus
Creepy, Funny, and Crazy Videos
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 29, 2015

Blue-tailed Plestiodon fasciatus

Filmed: July 4, 2009

 
  American five-lined skink
piranhacam72
 
   
 
About

Published on Aug 23, 2014

Plestiodon fasciatus (American five-lined skink) pays us a visit.

 
  The Five-lined Skink - Russell Cave National Monument
NPS Inventory and Monitoring
 
   
 
About

Published on Nov 20, 2012

Video describing the biology and natural history of the five-lined skink, a common reptile at Russell Cave National Monument.

 
  The Five-Lined Skink
globalzoo
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Jan 21, 2010

This is a video of the five-lined skink from the BBC's Life in Cold Blood documentary series.

 
  American five-lined skink, Juvenille
southcoastms
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 26, 2013

Plestiodon fasciatus

July 25, 2013, Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Juvenilles have the bright blue tail. Adults swap the blue tail for red coloring on the head.

This one was sweeping his tail back and forth until I grabbed the video camera, when he froze in place for a several minutes and finally did one tail sweep. I can't imagine why they do that. It seems like that brightly colored moving tail would be a "come eat me" signal to every coon, snake, and bird nearby.

 

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this reptile.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.
 
  Jeff LeClere
7/30/2015

Location: Yellow Medicine County

common five-lined skink

 
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

 

 

 

 

Binoculars


Last Updated:

About Us | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved.