Plestiodon septentrionalis

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Habitat

Ecology: Habitat includes open sandy areas of pine barrens and bracken grassland, grassy dunes, sandy banks of creeks and rivers and along roadsides, open grass-covered rocky hillsides near streams , and forest edges and woodland; this semi-fossorial lizard is often under ground cover. Eggs are laid in shallow nests dug in loose moist soil under logs , boards, rocks, or other objects (see Frese 2003).[1].

List of Habitats:

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.4     Forest - Temperate   
  
•     4     Grassland   
  
•     4.4     Grassland - Temperate   
  
•     14     Artificial/Terrestrial   
  
•     14.2     Artificial/Terrestrial - Pastureland   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Eumeces septentrionalis • Eumeces septentrionalis septentrionalis Conant & Collins 1991: 134 • Eumeces septentrionalis — Griffith • Eumeces septentrionalis — Taylor 1936: 394 • Eumeces septentrionalis< /i> (Baird 1858) • Plestiodon septentrionalis — Schmitz Et Al. 2004

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Comment: Eumeces septentrionalis obtusirostris is treated here as separate species.

MtDNA data suggest that colonization of P. septentrionalis into previously glaciated areas was from a single source with restricted gene flow (Fuerst and Austin 2004). Parsimony and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses showed reciprocal monophyly between the allopatric northern (P. s. septentrionalis) and southern (P. s. obtusirostris) subspecies (Fuerst and Austin 2004). These results, combined with the morphological differences found in previous studies (Taylor 1935), suggest that these allopatric populations are on separate evolutionary trajectories (Fuerst and Austin 2004). Further sampling of southern populations is needed to elucidate the taxonomic status of the various populations.

In a phylogenetic analysis of Eumeces based on morphology, Griffith et al. (2000) proposed splitting Eumeces into multiple genera, based on the apparent paraphyly of Eumeces. Smith (2005) and Brandley et al. (2005) formally proposed that all North American species (north of Mexico) be placed in the genus Plestiodon. This was accepted by Crother (2008) and Collins and Taggart (2009).[1].

Similar Species

Members of the genus Plestiodon

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 37 species and subspecies in this genus:

P. anthracinus (Coal Skink) · P. brevirostris (Shortnose Skink) · P. callicephalus (Mountain Skink) · P. capito (Gail's Eyelid Skink) · P. chinensis (Chinese Skink) · P. colimensis (Colima Skink) · P. copei (Cope's Skink) · P. coreensis (Smith's Skink) · P. dugesii (Duges' Skink) · P. egregius (Mole Skink) · P. elegans (Shanghai Elegant Skink) · P. fasciatus (Common Five-Lined Skink) · P. gilberti (Gilbert's Skink) · P. inexpectatus (Southeastern Five-Lined Skink) · P. kishinouyei (Japanese Skink) · P. lagunensis (San Lucan Skink) · P. laticeps (Broad-Headed Skink) · P. latiscutatus (Japanese Five-Lined Skink) · P. longirostris (Bermuda Rock Lizard) · P. lynxe (Oak Forest Skink) · P. marginatus (Ousima Skink) · P. multilineatus (Chihuahuan Skink) · P. multivirgatus (Many-Lined Skink) · P. obsoletus (Great Plains Skink) · P. obtusirostris (Southern Prairie Skink) · P. ochoterenae (Guerreran Skink) · P. okadae (Okada's Skink) · P. parviauriculatus (Northern Pigmy Skink) · P. parvulus (Southern Pigmy Skink) · P. popei (Pope's Skink) · P. quadrilineatus (Four-Striped Skink) · P. septentrionalis (Northern Prairie Skink) · P. skiltonianus (Skilton's Skink) · P. stimpsonii (Stimpson's Skink) · P. sumichrasti (Sumichrast's Skink) · P. tamdaoensis (Vietnam Skink) · P. tetragrammus (Four-Lined Skink)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A check list of North American amphibians and reptiles / by Leonhard Stejneger and Thomas Barbour. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1933. url p. 82.
• A manual of land and fresh water vertebrate animals of the United States (exclusive of birds) by Henry Sherring Pratt. .. with 184 illustrations. Philadelphia, Blakiston's[c1923] url p. 205.
• Animal biology / by Robert H. Wolcott. New York; McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1940. url p. 390, p. 640.
• Annual report of Captain A.A. Humphreys, topographical engineers, in charge of Office of Explorations and Surveys, War Department, December, 1858. Washington1859. url p. 149.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. url p. 656.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 132, p. 230, p. 74, p. 80, p. 83.
• Bulletin / Illinois Natural History Survey. Urbana, State of Illinois, Dept. of Registration and Education, Natural History Survey Division, 1918-1985. url p. 172.
• Catalogue of the lizards in the British museum (Natural history) / London: Printed by order of the Trustees, 1885-87. url .
• Handbook of amphibians and reptiles of Kansas. 1950 Lawrence, 1950 url fig. 133, page 191.
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. 1956 Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1946-1996. url fig. 143, page 200.
• Occasional papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 1913- url p. 2.
• Preliminary report of explorations in Nebraska and Dakota, in the years 1855-'56-'57, by Lieut. G.K. Warren, Topographical Engineers. .. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1875. url p. 105.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia url p. 256.
• Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Made under the direction of the secretary of war, in 1853-[6]. .. Washington, A.O.P. Nicholson, Printer [etc.]1855-60. url , p. 18.
• Studies in natural history. Iowa City, Ia. url p. 22.
• The University of Kansas science bulletin. 23 1935 [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. url p. 394, p. 504.
• University of Iowa studies in natural history. Iowa City, Iowa: The University, 1918-1948. url .

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 3, 2006.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 27, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
• Hammerson, G.A. 2007. Plestiodon septentrionalis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 04February2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• NatureServe. 2003. Downloadable animal data sets. NatureServe Central Databases. Accessed February 6, 2005.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• Species At Risk Act Public Registry, Government of Canada
• TIGR Reptile Database . Release date: October 2, 2007
• Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:

• Carnegie Museums: Amphibians and Reptiles
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB: Paleobiology Database
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• Sternberg Museum of Natural History: Herp Collection
• Yale University Peabody Museum: Peabody Herp Collection DiGIR provider Service

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2543844
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-2925
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 173969
• IUCN ID: 233921
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ARACH01100 ARACH01102
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 2556867

Footnotes

1. Hammerson, G.A. 2007. Plestiodon septentrionalis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.