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Project Noah Nature School
And don't trust wikipedia!
Check out: www.cnah.org
http://www.tnwatchablewildlife.org/displ...
http://apbrwww5.apsu.edu/reptatlas/frame...
In science, we try and just use one common name per species, the blue-tailed skink is a vernacular name for it. The are lots of other lizards with the blue-tails as juveniles. The most legit way to name this spotting would be Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon faciatus) And in the Description or Notes reference it as a Juvenile.
*Also, in other comments I put Plethodon instead of Plestiodon...I must have had salamanders on the brain.
I agree that it is indeed a Plethodon faciatus, but the Blue-tailed skink is an Australian lizard.
with Plethodon faciatus, the common name is the Five-lined skink.
This is the rattlesnake that appears on the yellow "Don't tread on me" flag.
This is a Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen.) It is the most common subspecies found in TN. The Southern is only found in extreme west TN.
The blue-tailed skink is native to Australia. In tennessee we have the five lined and southeastern five lined. The best way to tell them apart is by looking at the scales under the tail. These species are very commonly mixed up! Here is a link to the lizards of tn. What you have is most likely a sub-adult, almost breeding age.
http://www.tnwatchablewildlife.org/displ... - Lizards
