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Plestiodon fasciatus or Plestiodon inexpectatus
Found under a bush on the grounds of Calloway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia, USA.
Wooded area with bushes
Re the species, see the comment by AshleyT below. Five-Lined Skink - Plestiodon fasciatus Southeastern Five-Lined Skink - Plestiodon inexpectatus
Spotted on Aug 19, 2014
Submitted on Apr 5, 2015
4 Comments
Ashlyt, yeah, they're like greased lightning. (-: Joe
These skinks can be very tricky, especially since you need to get them in hand to ID them and they are too fast for most to catch :)
AshleyT, thanks for the info. I have made some notes and added both species to make it more clear. Joe
This is either the five lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) or the southeastern five-lined skink (Plestiodon inexpectatus). The only way to tell them apart is to examine the scales on the underside of the tail. One species has all the scales the same size, the other has one enlarged row of scales down the center of the underside of the tail. Without looking at this character, there is no way to know which of the two species it is.