But instead of traipsing into the woods to find animals that prey on lizards, he and his colleague turned to another kind of predator: graduate students. So Gopal Murali, an evolutionary biologist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, decided to look at how such stripes might function in lizards, many of which sport racing stripes similar to the five-lined skink. But the evidence for whether this so-called "motion dazzle" works-in nature or in war-has been mixed. And it has even made its way into the military: Allied ships in World War I were painted with disorienting black-and-white stripes in an attempt to avoid torpedo strikes. The explanation is one of many that researchers have used to explain the stripes of zebras. Scientists have long thought that bright stripes in nature may function as optical illusions, helping animals avoid attacks by messing up how predators perceive motion. Now, new research shows that the lines running along the body of the five-lined skink-and similar color patterns in lizards around the world-may also redirect predator attacks by making the lizards appear slower than they actually are. That's a good thing for the skink, because lizards can drop their tails when in danger and regrow them later. If so, you wouldn't be alone: Predators are also attracted to its bright blue color, and they tend to attack these bright tails more than other body parts. 3365: 1–61) transferred all of the whiptail species native to North America to the genus Aspidoscelis based on their monophyly using DNA and morphological analyses.When you take a look at a five-lined skink, its tail is probably the first thing to grab your eye. Other names it has been known by include Seps sexlineata. Reeder et al. Nomenclatural History: Lacerta fallax, Merrem, 1820 is a junior synonym. Original Name: Lacerta sexlineata, Linneaus, 1766 Type Locality: “Carolina” restricted to Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, by Smith & Taylor, 1950 Systema Naturae per Regina tri Naturae secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Status: Rare in the northern hill prairies but common in other parts of its range, especially the Shawnee Hills.Įtymology: Aspidoscelis – aspido (Greek) shield -skelos (Greek) meaning leg sexlineata – sex (Latin) meaning six lineatus (Latin) meaning ‘of a line’. Mating takes place in the spring and 3-5 eggs are laid from early June to July. Natural History: This alert and quick lizard is difficult to capture. Habitat: Sand prairies, hill prairies, and rocky open habitats. Juvenile is similar to adult but has a light blue tail. Belly is white and in male may be washed with blue. Most stripes extend to the base of the tail. Only the latter is known to occur in Illinois.ĭescription: A long (up to 20 cm TL), slender lizard with olive to brown back with six longitudinal stripes that may be white, light gray, yellow, or blue. viridis (Lowe, 1966) and Eastern Six-lined Racerunner, A. stephensae (Trauth, 1992) Prairie Racerunner, A. Subspecies: Three subspecies are recognized Texas Yellow-headed Racerunner, A. Similar Species: Five-lined Skink, but it does not have large rectangular scales on belly. See Key to Illinois Lizards for help with identification.
Key Characters: Small smooth scales on back eight rows of large rectangular scales on belly tail usually longer than body. Aspidoscelis sexlineata (Linnaeus, 1766) Six-lined racerunner, Will Co., IL photo by A.R.
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