''Plestiodon'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of lizards in the family Scincidae (skinks). The genus contains many

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

formerly classified under the genus ''

Eumeces The genus ''Eumeces'' (family (biology), family Scincidae) comprises four African to Middle-Eastern skink species. Systematics Recently two taxonomic revisions have been made regarding the 19th century genus ''Eumeces''. They both resulted in si ...

'', except those now placed in '' Mesoscincus''. They are secretive, agile animals with a cylindrical body covered with smooth, shiny scales. They are distributed from

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

to throughout

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

from southern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

south to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, including oceanic islands such as

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

Defensive mechanism

The conspicuous coloring of species of ''Plestiodon'' is a survival trait: it attracts a predator's attention to the tail of the animal, which will break off when grabbed. A skink thus often manages to escape and hide under some rock, log, or fallen leaves while the predator still contemplates the wildly thrashing severed tail. (This is an instance of what is called autotomy: voluntarily shedding a body part in order to escape, and later regenerating the body part.) After the tail regenerates, it usually has the same color as the rest of the body and is typically shorter than the original tail. In some species, regrown tails are pinkish. A regrown tail has a cartilaginous rod for support instead of vertebrae.

Reproduction

''Plestiodon'' are all

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

. The female lays eggs once a year after the breeding season in spring. The clutch size varies and is typically around 5 to 10 eggs. The hatchlings appear in late summer.

Thermoregulation

Like other

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

s, ''Plestiodon'' skinks are "cold-blooded" — they are ectothermic animals: their

metabolism Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

cannot regulate their body temperature. To warm up, they often bask in the sun. In colder climates, they hibernate in winter in burrows below the frost line. In hot climates, they are active mainly in the morning and evening, staying under cover during the hottest hours of the day to avoid overheating.

Systematics

Recently two taxonomic revisions have been made regarding the 19th century

''. They both resulted in similar results; the

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

and must be "sliced up" into several different genera. Griffith et al. (2000) proposed that the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

for ''Eumeces'', ''E. pavimentatus'', which is considered by many to be a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of ''

Eumeces schneiderii ''Eumeces schneiderii'', Common name, commonly known as Schneider's skink, is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Scincidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to Central Asia, Western Asia, and North Africa. There are five recogniz ...

'', should be changed to ''Lacerta fasciata'', so that the genus name ''Eumeces'' would stay with the most species-rich

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

. However this petition has not been verified by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Schmitz et al. argued that Griffith et al. violated the Code and rejected the proposal on good grounds. Thus only the African

of the ''

'' group still belong to the genus ''

''. Species that are now in ''Plestiodon'':. www.reptile-database.org. *'' Plestiodon anthracinus'' – coal skink *'' Plestiodon barbouri'' – Barbour's eyelid skink *'' Plestiodon bilineatus'' – two-lined short-nosed skink *'' Plestiodon brevirostris'' – short-nosed skink *'' Plestiodon callicephalus'' – mountain skink *'' Plestiodon capito'' – Gail's eyelid skink *'' Plestiodon chinensis'' – Chinese blue-tailed skink *'' Plestiodon colimensis'' – Colima skink *'' Plestiodon copei'' – Cope's skink *'' Plestiodon coreensis'' – Smith's skink *'' Plestiodon dicei'' – Dice's short-nosed skink *'' Plestiodon dugesii'' – Dugès's skink *'' Plestiodon egregius'' – mole skink *'' Plestiodon elegans'' – five-striped blue-tailed skink, Shanghai elegant skink *'' Plestiodon fasciatus'' – five-lined skink *'' Plestiodon finitimus'' – Far Eastern skink *'' Plestiodon gilberti'' – Gilbert's skink *'' Plestiodon indubitus'' – Mexican short-nosed skink *'' Plestiodon inexpectatus'' – southeastern five-lined skink *'' Plestiodon japonicus'' *'' Plestiodon kishinouyei'' – Kishinouye's giant skink *'' Plestiodon kuchinoshimensis'' *'' Plestiodon lagunensis'' – San Lucan skink *'' Plestiodon laticeps'' – broad-headed skink *'' Plestiodon latiscutatus'' – Far Eastern skink, Japanese five-lined skink *'' Plestiodon leucostictus'' – Chinese blue-tailed skink *'' Plestiodon liui'' *'' Plestiodon longiartus'' *'' Plestiodon longirostris'' – Bermuda skink, longnose skink, or the ''rock lizard'' *'' Plestiodon lotus'' *'' Plestiodon lynxe'' – oak forest skink *'' Plestiodon marginatus'' – Okinawa blue-tailed skink, Ousima skink *'' Plestiodon multilineatus'' – Chihuahuan skink *'' Plestiodon multivirgatus'' – many-lined skink *'' Plestiodon nietoi'' *'' Plestiodon obsoletus'' –

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

skink *'' Plestiodon ochoterenae'' – Guerreran skink *'' Plestiodon oshimensis'' – Ousima skink *'' Plestiodon parviauriculatus'' – northern pygmy skink *'' Plestiodon parvulus'' – southern pygmy skink *'' Plestiodon popei'' – Pope's skink *'' Plestiodon quadrilineatus'' – four-striped skink, Hong Kong skink *'' Plestiodon reynoldsi'' – Florida sand skink *'' Plestiodon septentrionalis'' – prairie skink *'' Plestiodon skiltonianus'' – western skink *'' Plestiodon stimpsonii'' – Stimpson's skink *'' Plestiodon sumichrasti'' – Sumichrast's skink *'' Plestiodon takarai'' – Senkaku skink *'' Plestiodon tamdaoensis'' – Vietnam skink *'' Plestiodon tetragrammus'' – four-lined skink *'' Plestiodon tunganus'' '' Nota bene'': A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Plestiodon''. Species that are now in '' Eurylepis'': *''Eumeces poonaensis'' – now '' Eurylepis poonaensis'' *''Eumeces taeniolatus'' – now '' Eurylepis taeniolata'' Species that are now in '' Mesoscincus'': *''Eumeces altamirani'' – now '' Mesoscincus altamirani'' *''Eumeces managuae'' – now '' Mesoscincus managuae'' *''Eumeces schwartzei'' – now '' Mesoscincus schwartzei''

''Plestiodon brevirostris'' group

The '' Plestiodon brevirostris'' group consists of 14 species. *'' Plestiodon bilineatus'', '' Plestiodon copei'', '' Plestiodon dicei'', '' Plestiodon dugesii'', '' Plestiodon indubitus'', '' Plestiodon lynxe'', and '' Plestiodon parviauriculatus'' – highlands of the central Mexican Plateau, Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre Oriental, and Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt *'' Plestiodon lotus'' – Balsas Basin *'' Plestiodon colimensis'' and '' Plestiodon parvulus'' – Pacific lowlands from northwestern Michoacán to

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

*'' Plestiodon sumichrasti'' – the Atlantic versant from central

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

south and east through northern

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

*'' Plestiodon brevirostris'' – Sierra Madre del Sur *'' Plestiodon nietoi'' and '' Plestiodon ochoterenae'' – Sierra Madre del Sur, in south-central

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

and from central Guerrero to western

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

References

External links

''PLESTIODON'': A replacement name for most members of the genus ''EUMECES'' in North America, .pdf

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
{{Taxonbar, from=Q772082 Lizard genera Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron