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Plestiodon laticeps (SCHNEIDER, 1801)

IUCN Red List - Plestiodon laticeps - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Broadhead Skink 
SynonymScincus laticeps SCHNEIDER 1801: 189
Sclncus erythrocephalus GILLIAMS 1818: 461 (fide COOPER 1988)
Scincus bicolor HARLAN 1824
Scincus americanus HARLAN 1835: 138
Plestiodon laticeps — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 705
Eumeces laticeps — PETERS 1864: 49
Eumeces polygrammus COPE 1900: 637
Eumeces laticeps — TAYLOR 1932: 263
Eumeces laticeps — TAYLOR 1936: 212
Eumeces laticeps — KAHL et al. 1980: 175
Eumeces laticeps — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 130
Eumeces laticeps — GRIFFITH, NGO & MURPHY 2000
Eumeces laticeps — WHITING et al. 2003
Plestiodon laticeps — SCHMITZ et al. 2004
Eumeces laticeps — COOPER 2005
Eumeces laticeps — JENSEN et al. 2008: 315
Plestiodon laticeps — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009
Plestiodon laticeps — BÖHME 2014: 155 
DistributionUSA (E Texas,E Oklahoma, S/C Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, S Illinois, S Indiana, Kansas, S Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, N Florida)

Type locality: unknown, restricted to Charleston, South Carolina by Schmidt (1953).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: ZFMK 26867; type unlocated fide TAYLOR 1936: 28; lost fide Cooper 1988 (formerly in the Museum of Göttingen, Germany)
Holotype: USNM 4156 [polygrammus]
Holotype: lost, fide Cooper 1988 [americanus]
Holotype: lost, fide Cooper 1988 [erythrocephalus] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1467 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: mostly after Cooper 1988.

Similar species: P. laticeps was long confused with P. fasciatus and P. inexpectatus. Distinguishing the three sibling species requires careful examination and comparison of specimens. The three species were frequently lumped in the literature before Taylor's (1932) re-establishmentof E. laticeps as a distinct species. Subsequent investigations have confirmed Taylor's separation of the forms (Davis, 1969; Murphy et al., 1983); the nomenclature has been stable for over half a century and is not now controversial. Taylor (1935) provides a detailed history of the many nomenclatural shifts within the taxon (Cooper 1988). 
EtymologyThe name laticeps, meaning "wide-headed" is compounded from the Greek kephale (= head), and the Latin latus (= wide). 
References
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  • Anderson, Paul 1950. The greater five-lined skink, Eumeces laticeps (Schneider), in Kansas. Herpetologica 6: 53 - get paper here
  • Bartlett, R. D. & Bartlett, P. 1999. A Field Guide to Texas Reptiles and Amphibians. Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, Texas, 331 pp.
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  • Bufalino, Angelo 1996. Geographic Distribution. Eumeces laticeps. Herpetological Review 27 (2): 87 - get paper here
  • Camper, Jeffrey D. 2019. The Reptiles of South Carolina. University of South Carolina Press, 288 pp. [review in Copeia 107 (3): 590, 2019] - get paper here
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  • Connior, Matthew B., Kory Roberts and Idun Guenther. 2010. Geographic distribution: Plestiodon laticeps. Herpetological Review 41 (3): 378 - get paper here
  • Cooper Jr, W E 1988. Eumeces laticeps (Schneider). Broad-headed skink. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 445: 1-3 - get paper here
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  • Cooper, W.E. 1993. Tree selection by the broad-headed skink, Eumeces laticeps: size, holes, and cover Amphibia-Reptilia, 14(3): 285-294. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. 1981. Head-First Swallowing of Large Prey by a Scincid Lizard, Eumeces laticeps Journal of Herpetology 15 (3): 371-373. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. 1997. Factors affecting risk and cost of escape by the broad-headed skink (Eumeces laticeps): predator speed, directness of approach, and female presence Herpetologica 53 (4): 464-474. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. 1997. Threat factors affecting antipredator behavior in the broad-headed skink (Eumeces laticeps): repeated approach, change in predator path, and predator's field of view Copeia 1997 (3): 613-619. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. 1998. Effects of refuge and conspicuosness on escape behavior by the broad-headed skink (Eumeces laticeps) Amphibia-Reptilia, 19(1): 103-108. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. & L.J. Vitt 1985. Responses of the Skinks, Eumeces fasciatus and E. laticeps, to Airborne Conspecific Odors: Further Appraisal Journal of Herpetology 19 (4): 481-486. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. & L.J. Vitt 1987. Intraspecific and Interspecific Aggression in Lizards of the Scincid Genus Eumeces: Chemical Detection of Conspecific Sexual Competitors Herpetologica 43 (1): 7-14. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. & L.J. Vitt 1988. Orange head coloration of the male broad-headed skink (Eumeces laticeps), a sexually selected social cue Copeia 1988 (1): 1-6. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. & L.J. Vitt 1997. Maximizing male reproductive success in the broad-headed skink (Eumeces laticeps): preliminary evidence for mate guarding, size-assortative pairing, and opportunistic extra-pair mating Amphibia-Reptilia, 18(1): 59-73. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. & W.R. Garstka 1987. Aggregation in the Broad-Headed Skink (Eumeces laticeps) Copeia 1987 (3): 807-810. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr., M.T. Mendonca & L.J. Vitt 1987. Induction of Orange Head Coloration and Activation of Courtship and Aggresssion by Testosterone in the Male Broad-headed Skink (Eumeces laticeps) Journal of Herpetology 21 (2): 96-101. - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr., W.R. Garstka & L.J. Vitt 1986. Female Sex Pheromone in the Lizard Eumeces laticeps Herpetologica 42 (3): 361-366. - get paper here
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
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  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1839. Erpétologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol. 5. Roret/Fain et Thunot, Paris, 871 pp. - get paper here
  • Felix, Zach I. 2013. Geographic Distribution: Plestiodon laticeps (broad-headed skink). Herpetological Review 44 (4): 626 - get paper here
  • Foster, N. & Conway, C. 2012. Geographic distribution: Plestiodon laticeps (broad-headed skink). Herpetological Review 43: 446 - get paper here
  • Fowler, J. A. 1946. A new locality record for Eumeces laticeps (Schneider) in Maryland. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 59: 165-166 - get paper here
  • Fulbright, Michael C., James P. Flaherty and C. M. Gienger. 2014. Geograpihic Distribution: Plestiodon laticeps (broad-headed skink). Herpetological Review 45 (1): 92-93 - get paper here
  • Gibbons, Whit; Judy Greene, and Tony Mills 2009. LIZARDS AND CROCODILIANS OF THE SOUTHEAST. University of Georgia Press, 240 pp.
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  • Goin, Olive B.; Goin, Coleman J. 1951. Notes on the natural history of the lizard Eumeces laticeps, in northern Florida. Quarterly J. Florida Acad. Sci. 14 (1): 29-33 - get paper here
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  • Hullinger, Allison; Zackary Cordes; Daren Riedle and William Stark 2020. Habitat assessment of the Broad-headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps) and the associated squamate community in eastern Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 123 (1-2): 137-150 - get paper here
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  • McCauley, R. H., Jr. 1939. Differences in the young of Eumeces fasciatus and Eumeces laticeps. Copeia 1939 (2): 93-95 - get paper here
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  • Thawley, Christopher J. and Fern Graves. 2014. Geographical Distribution: Plestiodon laticeps (broad-headed skink). Herpetological Review 45 (4): 661 - get paper here
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  • Vitt L J & Cooper, W.E. 1985. The evolution of sexual dimorphism in the skink Eumeces laticeps: an example of sexual selection. Can. J. Zool. 63: 995-1002 - get paper here
  • Vitt, L.J. & W.E. Cooper, Jr. 1985. The Relationship between Reproduction and Lipid Cycling in the Skink Eumeces laticeps with comments on Brooding Ecology Herpetologica 41 (4): 419-432. - get paper here
  • Vitt, L.J. & W.E. Cooper, Jr. 1986. Foraging and Diet of a Diurnal Predator (Eumeces laticeps) Feeding on Hidden Prey Journal of Herpetology 20 (3): 408-415. - get paper here
  • Vitt, L.J. & W.E. Cooper, Jr. 1988. Feeding Responses of Skinks (Eumeces laticeps) to Velvet Ants (Dasymutilla occidentalis) Journal of Herpetology 22 (4): 485-488. - get paper here
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