Yellow Striped Tree Skink

The genus of Eumeces-skinks is due to Wiegmann, 1834. They are secretive, agile lizards with a cylindrical body covered with smooth, shiny scales.The genus sometimes goes by the common name of "New World Skinks" or "Great Skinks" but both these common names are actually misnomers: skinks of the genus Eumeces occur also in Asia, and they're not particularly big either: while the largest skinks of this genus, the Great Plains Skink, can reach a length of some 34 cm or about 14 inches, most species are smaller than 20 cm including the tail. The tail makes up for about half of this total length. Another colloquial name of these skinks is "blue-tailed skink": young Eumeces often have a brightly colored tail, which is typically blue. In most species, this coloring is lost when the animal reaches adulthood, but a few species retain the color even as adults, e.g. the Bluetail Mole Skink. This coloring is a survival trait: it attracts a predator's attention to the tail of the animal, which will break off when grabbed. A skink thus often manages to escape and hide under some rock, log, or fallen leaves while the predator still contemplates the wildly thrashing severed tail. The skink regrows an anatomized tail, which then usually has the same color as the rest of the body and typically is also shorter than the original tail. In some species, regrown tails are pinkish. A regrown tail has a cartilaginous rod for support instead of vertebrae. Eumeces are all oviparous. The female lays eggs once a year after the breeding season in spring. The clutch size varies and is typically around 5 to 10 eggs. The hatchlings appear in late summer. Like other reptiles, these skinks are "cold-blooded" — they are ectothermic animals: their metabolism cannot regulate their body temperature.