The prairie skink (''Plestiodon septentrionalis'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of skink

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

s east of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

in North America. It is one of only seven species of lizards that occur in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Taxonomy

The prairie skink was first described by Baird in 1859. Two subspecies are generally recognized, including the

nominotypical subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: * Northern prairie skink, ''P. s. septentrionalis'' Baird, 1859, originally described as ''Plestiodon septentrionalis''. * Southern prairie skink, ''P. s. obtusirostris'' ( Bocourt, 1879), originally described as ''Eumeces obtusirostris''. A third subspecies was described as ''Eumeces s. pallidus'', the "pallid skink", by H.M. Smith and Slater in 1949, but this subspecies is absent from the literature for the past more than 40 years, and it is unclear whether it exists or coincides with one of the other two subspecies. The scientific name of the species derives from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''septentrionalis'' means "northern". Latin ''obtusirostris'' means "blunt-nosed". Despite the scientific name ''P. septentrionalis obtusirostris'' translating to "blunt-nosed northern great skink", it ''is'' a southern subspecies.

Description

The prairie skink is a small lizard, reaching a total length (body + tail) of about 13 to 22 cm (5 to nearly 9 inches). Adult prairie skinks are brown or tan on the back and darker on the sides and have several thin lighter stripes along the sides and the back. Juveniles have bright blue tails, the color of which fades when they mature.

Behavior

Prairie skinks are good burrowers; they hibernate in burrows they dig themselves below the

frost line The frost line—also known as frost depth or freezing depth—is most commonly the depth to which the groundwater in soil is expected to freeze. The frost depth depends on the climatic conditions of an area, the heat transfer properties of the s ...

. They are very secretive and are rarely seen in the open except during their breeding season in spring.

Diet

They feed on small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, preferring

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

s, and grasshoppers, but avoiding

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

Life cycle

Prairie skinks hibernate from about September to late April. In spring, when they emerge, the males start developing a bright orange coloring on the jaws and throat: the breeding season has begun. The female lays eight to ten eggs after a gestation time of about 40 days. The eggs hatch in August; hatchlings are about long. They reach sexual maturity in their third year.

Habitat

The prairie skink lives in sandy habitat or open grasslands with loose soil, preferably with some rocks providing shelter and places to bask in the sun, and close to a water source.

Geographic range

The ranges of the two subspecies are disjunct. The range of the northern subspecies extends from eastern

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

south to central

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. A small isolated population lives in southwestern

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

—it is the only lizard in Manitoba and is one of only seven lizard species to occur in Canada; the northern prairie skink is protected in Canada. The southern subspecies occurs in Oklahoma and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

References

External links

Northern Prairie Skink
Reptiles and Amphibians of Iowa {{Taxonbar, from=Q167047 Plestiodon Reptiles of the United States Reptiles described in 1859 Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird