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Together with the Great Plains skink it is the largest of the "Plestiodon skinks", growing from a total length of 15 cm (5.9 in) to nearly 33 cm (13 in). A male broad-headed skink, illustration from Holbrook's North American Herpetology, 1842. The broad-headed skink gets its name from the wide jaws, giving the head a triangular appearance.
The broad-headed skink, P. laticeps, is similar, and may be difficult to distinguish from P. fasciatus. The former species usually lacks the two enlarged postlabial scales characteristic of P. fasciatus. [7] [8] Adult male broad-headed skinks, with their large size and swollen red head, are readily distinguished from P. fasciatus. [9]
It is a four-lined skink whose light stripes extend onto the tail. The broad dark lateral stripe is 4–4.5 scales wide and there are no light lines on top of the head. The dorsolateral light stripe is on the edges of the 3rd and 4th scale rows, counting from midline of back. One postmental scale is present.
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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.
The Great Plains skink, together with the broad-headed skink, is the largest skink of the genus Plestiodon. It reaches a length of 9 to 13 cm from snout to vent (SVL) or up to nearly 34 cm total length (including the tail). This lizard is light gray or beige in color; its dorsal scales have black or dark brown edges. The scales on the sides run ...
Plestiodon gilberti, commonly known as Gilbert's skink, is a species of heavy-bodied medium-sized lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, and grows to about 7 to 12 cm (3 to 4.5 in) in total length (including tail).
Breeding males are the colorful ones, with an orange or red head, indigo blue or black body, and a tail that is bluish white at the base with an orange middle segment and a black tip, the FWC said.