Life History and Ecology of the Five-Lined Skink, Eumeces fasciatus

Life History and Ecology of the Five-Lined Skink, Eumeces fasciatus

The common five-lined skink (or common blue-tailed skink) is a small woodland lizard, abundantly and widely distributed over the eastern United States. Many authors have casually discussed this lizard or have treated in detail some phase of its biology. Excellent brief summaries of the known facts concerning its life history have been published by Smith (1946:349-350 and 1950:187-188) and Pope (1947:153-157). Nevertheless, no thoroughgoing study of its life history and ecology has heretofore been made. In 1932, taxonomic studies by Dr. Edward H. Taylor revealed that the lizards previously referred to in the literature as Eumeces fasciatus, actually were three closely related and similar, partly sympatric species. Although Taylors work was careful and detailed, and indicated numerous minor differences by which the three species could be distinguished, many herpetologists were reluctant to accept his findings for nearly a decade thereafter. Consequently a large amount of literature concerning five-lined skinks is either obviously composite in the sense that it is based upon two or three species, or is not definitely assignable to any one species. In the study here reported upon, all pertinent literature available to me has been examined, and evaluated, and important findings of other authors have been incorporated in the discussion. However, mine was primarily a field study, and in one small part of the geographic range of the one species. The University of Kansas Natural History Reservation is a tract of 590 acres preserved as a natural area, available for the pursuit of ecological studies. The studies undertaken include intensive investigations of selected species of vertebrate animals. The main criteria used in selecting these species have been whether or not they were sufficiently abundant and generally enough distributed to play an important role in the over-all ecology of the area, and whether a species was sufficiently accessible for study with available techniques. Among the 300 species of vertebrate animals recorded [4] from the Reservation, the five-lined skink is one of those most frequently noticed in the field. In actual numbers it is probably exceeded only by the cricket frog (Acris gryllus), the leopard frog (Rana pipiens), the ring-necked snake (Diadophis punctatus), the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) and perhaps the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). Although numerous, the skink is not easy to study because it is secretive in its behavior, and is inactive in inaccessible shelters during the greater part of the year. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 39958
Author: Fitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Release Date: Jun 10, 2012
Format: eBook
Language: English