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Plestiodon obsoletus BAIRD & GIRARD, 1852

IUCN Red List - Plestiodon obsoletus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Great Plains Skink
S: Lincer de Llanura 
SynonymPlestiodon obsoletum BAIRD & GIRARD 1852
Lamprosaurus guttulatus HALLOWELL 1852: 206
Eumeces obsoletus — COPE 1875: 45
Eumeces guttulatus — GRANT 1927
Eumeces obsoletus — TAYLOR 1936: 305
Eumeces obsoletus — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 165
Eumeces obsoletus — STEBBINS 1985: 146
Eumeces obsoletus — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 131
Eumeces obsoletus — LINER 1994
Eumeces obsoletus — GRIFFITH, NGO & MURPHY 2000
Plestiodon obsoletus — SCHMITZ et al. 2004 
DistributionUSA (E Colorado, S Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona),
Mexico (NE Sonora, N/E Chihuahua, Coahuila, N Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosí, N Tamaulipas, Durango)

Type locality: “Valley of the Rio San Pedro of the Rio Grande del Norte”, now Devils River, Texas.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 3133 
DiagnosisDescription. The juveniles are coal black with a blue tail and the head is marked with rows ov vivid blue- white or orange spots. The adults are robust, reaching an overall length of about 12 omces. and are a gray or yellowish brown with some indication of striping. There are no rows of light spots on the adult head nor is the tail blue (see: Conant, 1958, pl. 15, for color photographs of young and adult). Accompanying these dramatic differences in color and color pattern are the facts that metamorphosis occurs fairly rapidly, and the juveniles often occur in a slightly different habitat and are often active at different times during the day (Maslin 1959).

Ontogenetic variation led to the description of juveniles and adults as different species. 
CommentSynonymy after SMITH & TAYLOR 1950. 
EtymologyThe specific name, obsoletus, is a Latin word meaning "decayed or degenerate," in reference to the lack of a distinct pattern, as generally found inadults with a seemingly striped pattern (Lemos-Espinal & Dixon 2013). 
References
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