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| Eumeces egregius Baird, 1859 |
The Mole Skink (Eumeces egregius) is a species of small lizard living in the Southeastern United States. Spencer Fullerton Baird ( February 3, 1823 &ndash August 19, 1887) was an American ornithologist and Ichthyologist Lizards are a large and widespread group of Reptiles of the order Squamata, with nearly 5000 species and ranging across all continents except The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
Taxonomy
The species is subdivided into five subspecies:
- Florida Keys Mole Skink, E. In Zoology, as in other branches of Biology, subspecies is the Taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a Species. e. egregius Baird 1859: occurs only on some of the Florida Keys. Spencer Fullerton Baird ( February 3, 1823 &ndash August 19, 1887) was an American ornithologist and Ichthyologist Year 1859 ( MDCCCLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Florida Keys are an Archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States.
- Cedar Key Mole Skink, E. e. insularis Mount 1965: occurs only on three islands at Cedar Key. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. The population was 790 at the 2000 census
- Bluetail Mole Skink, E. e. lividus Mount 1965: occurs only in interior central Florida; shares its Florida Scrub habitat with the Sand Skink. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Florida Scrub is an endangered Ecosystem of the state of Florida, USA. There is only one species known of the genus Neoseps, the Neoseps reynoldsi, commonly known as the (Florida Sand Skink.
- Peninsula Mole Skink, E. e. onocrepis Cope 1871. Edward Drinker Cope (July 28 1840&ndashApril 12 1897 was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
- Northern Mole Skink, E. e. similis McConkey 1957. Edwin H McConkey is an American Biologist. As of 2004, he is a Professor Emeritus at the department for Molecular Cellular and Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar)
The species was first described by Baird in 1859 as Plistodon egregius. In 1871, P. onocrepis was described by Cope. In 1875, the two species were reassigned to the genus Eumeces. In 1935, two subspecies were defined, E. e. egregius and E. e. onocrepis, and in 1957, E. e. similis was separated from E. e. egregius.
Status
The first three subspecies listed above are protected, and the Bluetail Mole Skink is classified as an endangered species since 1987. An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) The major threats to all three subspecies are habitat destruction due to residential, commercial, and agricultural development and overcollection by herpetological enthusiasts. The remaining two subspecies are rather common. The Northern Mole Skink also occurs in southern Alabama and Georgia. Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule
Habitat
Mole skinks are found in sandhills and scrub. A sandhill is an ecological Community type found in many parts of the world They often like to be buried underground and live there.
Reproduction
Mole Skinks reach sexual maturity after one year. They mate in winter; the female lays three to seven eggs in spring in a shallow nest cavity less than 30 cm below the surface. The eggs incubate for 31 to 51 days, during which time the female tends the nest.
The Bluetail Mole Skink
The Bluetail Mole Skink is a small, shiny, cylindrical lizard of a brownish color. Juveniles usually have a blue tail which makes up slightly more than half of the animal's length. Regenerated tails and the tails of older individuals are typically pinkish. The legs are somewhat reduced in size and are used only during surface locomotion, not when the animal "swims" through the sand (Christman 1992). During the breeding season, males develop a colorful orange pattern on their sides.
The Bluetail Mole Skink grows to 9 to 15 cm (3 to 6 inches). A centimetre ( American spelling: centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one hundredth Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. 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. There is only one species known of the genus Neoseps, the Neoseps reynoldsi, commonly known as the (Florida Sand Skink. Like other mole skinks, it feeds primarily on cockroaches, spiders, and crickets. Cockroaches (or simply "roaches" are Insects of the order Blattaria. Spiders are Predatory Invertebrate Animals that have two body segments, eight legs no chewing mouth parts and no wings Crickets, family Gryllidae (also known as "true crickets" are Insects somewhat related to Grasshoppers and more closely related to katydids
The Bluetail Mole Skink is an endangered species. An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation
External links
- Comprehensive overview of the Bluetail Mole Skink at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- Multispecies Recovery Plan for South Florida, section on the Bluetail Mole Skink (PDF file, 147 KB). A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix Kilo -, meaning 1000 is a unit of Information or Computer storage equal to either 1024
Selected literature
- Christman, S. P. (1992): Endangered: blue-tailed mole skink, Eumeces egregius lividus (Mount). Pages 117-122 in P. E. Moler, ed. Rare and endangered biota of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
- Mount, R. H. (1965): Variation and systematics of the scincoid lizard Eumeces egregius (Baird). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 9:183-213.
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