New England’s only lizard
Juvenile Five-Lined Skink
Excerpted from an article by Frank Carini in ecoRI News in his series on threatened New England wildlife
“The five-lined skink is the only lizard found in New England, even though there are about 5,000 different species of lizards worldwide, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection….’’
“The small size and fragmented nature of skink populations leaves them vulnerable to ecological catastrophes, according to state officials. It’s listed as a threatened animal in Connecticut.
“The range of this species corresponds closely with the eastern deciduous forest. The Five-Lined Skink is found in southwestern New England — currently, parts of Vermont and Connecticut and historically in Massachusetts — south to northern Florida, west to Wisconsin, and in eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The species is at its northeastern range limit in southwestern New England.’’