Broad-Headed Skink

Fascinating facts about the Broad-Headed Skink

• At up to 33 cm long, the broad-headed skink is the heavyweight champ of North American Plestiodon skinks, rivaled only by the Great Plains skink. Adults range from 15 cm (5.9 in) to nearly 33 cm (13 in) in total length, and males can reach a maximum of 324 mm. This size lets them tackle prey many smaller skinks can't.
• Broad-headed skinks are tree-climbers that prefer live oaks with holes. They don't care how big the tree is, only that it has cavities, and they also rely on dead or decaying trunks for nesting. Juveniles stay low on fallen branches, while adults guard preferred trees surrounded by dense brush to keep predators and prey at bay.
• When a predator grabs a juvenile, its bright blue tail snaps off and keeps wriggling, buying the skink a chance to escape. Juveniles sport five (sometimes seven in eastern parts of range) white or yellowish stripes on a black body, and the blue tail is a hallmark of this defensive trick. Adult males lose the stripes, but the early-life tail autotomy remains a vivid example of predator-evading adaptation.
• Females lay between 8 and 22 eggs in decaying log cavities and guard them until they hatch in June or July, a clutch that can weigh less than a gram per egg. In the wild they typically produce 8 to 13 eggs, with an incubation period of 3-8 weeks, and the mother stays with the nest for the entire time before leaving to feed.
• Broad-headed skinks are opportunistic hunters that eat insects, larvae, spiders, gastropods and even other lizards, including conspecific juveniles. They can capture large prey, but because handling time rises with size, bigger meals aren't always the most profitable. This flexible diet lets them thrive across the southeastern United States, from Ohio to Texas, while also keeping insect populations in check.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Broad-Headed Skink

In the sun-dappled underbrush, the broad-headed skink weaves a secretive path, its bronze-hued scales glinting like fragments of ancient pottery as it navigates the intricate network of leaf litter and twiggy debris. With a sinuous, almost serpentine motion, it threads its way through the dense vegetation, its broad, flat head probing every nook and cranny in search of unsuspecting insects and tender shoots. As it moves, the skink embodies a quiet, unassuming elegance, its very presence a testament to the enduring beauty of this hidden, miniature world.

More reptiles to discover

Browse Feravox