Plestiodon: a Replacement Name for Most Members of the Genus Eumeces in North America. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 9:183-213. (1965): Variation and systematics of the scincoid lizard Eumeces egregius (Baird). The Subspecies of Eumeces egregius, a Lizard of the Southeastern United States. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. (1992): Endangered: [[blue-tailed mole skink, Eumeces egregius lividus (Mount). Descriptions of New Genera and Species of North American Lizards in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Multispecies Recovery Plan for South Florida, section on the Bluetail Mole Skink ( PDF file, 147 KB).Comprehensive overview of the Bluetail Mole Skink at the U.S.The bluetail mole skink is a federally-threatened species. Also sighted in Brevard, Marion, and Pasco Counties. Map should also reflect Seminole and Orange counties. Like other mole skinks, it feeds primarily on cockroaches, spiders, and crickets. When threatened, it plays presents its tail and if refused, plays dead. It shares habitat with the sand skink, which is also endangered, but does not compete with it: whereas the sand skink feeds underground, the bluetail mole skink hunts on the surface. The bluetail mole skink grows to 9 to 15 cm (3.5 to 6 in). During the breeding season, males develop a colorful orange pattern on their sides. The legs are somewhat reduced in size and are used only during surface locomotion, not when the animal "swims" through the sand (Christman 1992). Regenerated tails and the tails of older individuals are typically pinkish. Juveniles usually have a blue tail which makes up slightly more than half of the animal's total length. The bluetail mole skink is a small, shiny, cylindrical lizard of a brownish color. The eggs incubate for 31 to 51 days, during which time the female tends the nest.īluetail mole skink distribution Description They mate in winter the female lays three to seven eggs in spring in a shallow nest cavity less than 30 cm (12 in) below the surface. Mole skinks reach sexual maturity after one year. They often like to be buried underground and especially like to bask in the upper layers of Southeastern pocket gopher mounds. Mole skinks are found in sandhills and scrub. The northern mole skink also occurs in southern Alabama and Georgia. The remaining two subspecies are rather common, though elusive. ![]() The major threats to all three subspecies are habitat destruction due to residential, commercial, and agricultural development and over-collection by herpetological enthusiasts. The first three subspecies listed above are protected, and the bluetail mole skink is classified as a federally-threatened species since 1987. In 2005 North American members of genus Eumeces were reassigned to Plestiodon. In 1875, the two species were reassigned to the genus Eumeces. The species was first described by Baird in 1859 as Plestiodon egregius. lividus (Mount, 1965): occurs only in interior central Florida shares its Florida Scrub habitat with the Sand Skink. insularis ( Mount, 1965): occurs only on three islands at Cedar Key. egregius Baird, 1859: occurs only on some of the Florida Keys. The species is subdivided into five subspecies, including the nominotypical subspecies: Plestiodon egregius, the mole skink, is a species of small lizard endemic to the Southeastern United States. Bluetail Mole Skink ( Eumeces egregius lividus) Highlands County, Florida
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