![]() Their habitats usually also include free sunlit spaces where they can bask in the sunlight to increase their body temperature. This type of habitat provides the lizards with plenty of food source and hiding places. Their preferred choice of habitat is a rocky terrain with a bit of shrub cover. ➤ Tip: While their bright blue tails and yellow vertical stripes are indication enough, these lizards can also be identified by the row of tiny scales around the center of their body and under the tail. During mating, the males develop an orange-red color on the head and neck region. In the case of males, the vertical stripes fade away leaving a brownish body and tail color. In case of females, the contrast of the body color decreases, and the tail turns from bright blue to grayish blue. The coloration on these lizards undergoes changes as they mature into adults. They have a brown-black coloring with yellow stripes vertically across their body spanning from their snout all the way till the end of the tail. The blue-tailed skink is a smooth and slender species of lizards that can grow up to a maximum length of about 20 cm. Red coloration on chin and jaw of male skink during mating season. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed this species of lizards as Least Concern. They are generally terrestrial, but can also be found on trees occasionally. Similar to other reptiles, these lizards are also cold-blooded, meaning that their body temperature fluctuates according to the environmental temperature as they cannot regulate it themselves. It is the process by which the lizard discards its own tail in the presence of predators to increase its chance of survival. These lizards, like most other lizards, display autotomy. ![]() They are cylindrical, highly flexible lizards that have scales on their body. They are characterized by their bright blue tails and the vertical yellow stripes on their body. The blue-tailed skink lizard, commonly known as the five-lined skink, is a species of lizards native to North America. –Oregon Dept.The Blue-tailed skink discards its own bright blue tail during an attack to distract the predator and allow the skink to escape. Some lizards are known to break off their own tails and eat them when food is scarce. When in a pinch, Skinks will literally ‘drop tail and run.’ They can detach their tail, which will whip and wiggle violently, giving the lizard a chance to escape. Juveniles are more vivid than adults and sport bright blue tails that fade with age to grey in adulthood. They belong to a special group of blue tongue lizards with smooth, glossy scales, and ‘racing’ stripes on its side (these lizards are fast and very agile). The lizards forage and hunt through leaf litter, and are most active at night and in the early morning. Western skinks consume a wide variety of invertebrates and arthropods including beetles, grasshoppers, sow bugs, moths, flies, spiders, and earthworms. Their region is fairly large and includes Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona, Missouri, and portions of Texas and California. They avoid heavy brush and dense forests but can be found in coniferous woodlands and forests, and grasslands to desert scrubs. Western skinks are good burrowers and may constructs moist burrows several times its own body length. They favor rocky areas, such as riparian zones, with some moisture. Western skinks can often be found basking themselves on a warm rock in a wide variety of habitats. Oregon has a variety of lizards, the most common of them being Western Skinks. Western skinks are just one of more than 2,500 lizard species in the world. ![]() Did some of those old monster movies enlarged this modest five-inch lizard to fight Godzilla? Maybe they were hanging out in the garden. Western Skink (Courtesy of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |