Description: The little brown skink is one of the smallest reptiles in North America, with a total length (including tail) of only 3 to 5.5 inches. Its back is typically a coppery brown color with a white or yellow underside, and like most skinks has an elongated body and short legs. Transparent disks in the lower eyelids allow it to see with its eyes closed. Females tend to grow faster and be larger than males. Scincella lateralis exhibits sexual dimorphism where the females are generally larger, but males have larger heads. This is suggested that this may be the result of sexual selection favoring larger heads in males in male-male contests.
Habitat:S. lateralis lives in a variety of habitats, including deciduous or mixed deciduous/coniferous forests, hedgerows, and the edges of streams and ponds. It does require a deep substrate, such as leaf litter. Some evidence suggests that meander cutoff may promote gene flow across a riverine barrier in Ground skinks. Several genetic discontinuities align with major southeastern rivers and rivers may have historically isolated populations. However, phylogeographic evidence suggests that some gene flow is occurring across the rivers, and especially the Mississippi River. The meander loop cutoff mechanism may allow passive dispersal to take place across the barrier.
Range: The ground skink is found throughout much of the Eastern United States, from New Jersey, Ohio, and Kansas south to Texas and Florida, as well as into northern Mexico. More recently, it has been sighted in southern New York State. It is absent from higher elevations in the Appalachian Mountains. It is one of the most abundant and widely distributed members of the skink family.
Diet: The diet of the little brown skink consists of small insects, spiders, and other arthropoda, such as isopods. The active foraging of a ground skink is assisted by their ability to discriminate prey chemicals and "smells" by tongue-flicking. This is one of their two main methods of locating prey: visual and chemical senses. A visual incentive is associated with tongue flicking, orientation to the prey, and attack behavior. When the visual aspect of the prey is removed, then the amount of tongue flicking increases to an even greater rate.
Reproduction: Sexually mature S. lateralis females lay small clutches of 1 to 6 (usually 2 to 3) eggs in moist soil, rotting logs, falling logs, or under rocks. Eggs are laid during the summer, March through August in the Southern United States. There may be more than one clutch per year. In contrast to Eumeces species, the female ground skink does not guard its eggs. Eggs hatch in one to two months, and young are sexually mature at one year of age.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the large and probably relatively stable extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size. No major threats are known.
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Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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