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Plestiodon gilberti (VAN DENBURGH, 1896)

IUCN Red List - Plestiodon gilberti - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesPlestiodon gilberti cancellosus (RODGERS & FITCH 1947)
Plestiodon gilberti gilberti (VAN DENBURGH 1896)
Plestiodon gilberti placerensis (RODGERS 1944)
Plestiodon gilberti rubricaudatus (TAYLOR 1936) 
Common Namesarizonensis: Arizona Skink
cancellosus: Variegated Skink
gilberti: Greater Brown Skink
placerensis: Northern Brown Skink
rubricaudatus: Western Redtail Skink
S: Lincer de Gilbert 
SynonymEumeces gilberti VAN DENBURGH 1896: 350
Eumeces gilberti — TAYLOR 1936: 438
Eumeces gilberti — STEBBINS 1985: 149
Eumeces gilberti — LINER 1994
Eumeces gilberti — GRIFFITH, NGO & MURPHY 2000
Plestiodon gilberti — SCHMITZ et al. 2004
Plestiodon gilberti — HANSEN & SHEDD 2025

Plestiodon gilberti cancellosus (RODGERS & FITCH 1947)
Plestiodon gilberti cancellosus — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009

Plestiodon gilberti gilberti (VAN DENBURGH 1896)
Plestiodon gilberti gilberti — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009

Plestiodon gilberti placerensis (RODGERS 1944)
Eumeces gilberti placerensis RODGERS 1944
Eumeces gilberti placerensis — SMITH 1946
Plestiodon gilberti placerensis — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009

Plestiodon gilberti rubricaudatus (TAYLOR 1936: 446)
Eumeces gilberti rubricaudatus TAYLOR 1935
Eumeces rubricaudatus — SMITH 1946
Eumeces gilberti arizonensis LOWE & SHANNON 1954
Eumeces gilberti rubricaudatus — BANTA 1962
Eumeces gilberti rubricaudatus — BRADLEY & DEACON 1966
Plestiodon gilberti rubricaudatus — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009
Plestiodon gilberti arizonensis — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009
Plestiodon gilberti rubricaudatus — CROTHER et al. 2012 
DistributionUSA (California, S Nevada, W Arizona),
Mexico (N Baja California)

arizonensis: isolated populations in Arizona,in the Bradshaw Mountains, Weaver Mountains, Santa Maria Mountains, Cerbat and Music Mountains. Type locality: USA: 5 mi SE Wickenburg, Maricopa County, Arizona.

rubricaudatus: USA (S California), Mexico (NW Baja California, North Coronado Island). Type locality: Tehachapi Mountains, California.  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesHolotype: CAS 4139
Holotype: Shannon collection 3218; INHS (= UIMNH) 67063; R. Abbuhl; July 8, 1953. [arizonensis]
Holotype: MVZ 24058, adult male [placerensis]
Holotype: CAS 39002 [rubricaudatus]
Holotype: MVZ 24034 (originally 3348), collected by H. S. Fitch, May 4,1937 [cancellosus] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1193 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: partly after RICHMOND & REEDER 2002 who also synonymized arizonensis with rubricaudatus.

Genome: Richmond et al. 2025
. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Charles H. Gilbert (1859-1928), American herpetologist. 
References
  • Banta, B.H. 1962. Notes on the Distribution of the Western Red-Tailed Skink, Eumeces gilberti rubricaudatus Taylor, in Southern Nevada Herpetologica 18 (2): 129-130. - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Blackburn, D.G. 1993. STANDARDIZED CRITERIA FOR THE RECOGNITION OF REPRODUCTIVE MODES IN SQUAMATE REPTILES. Herpetologica 49 (1): 118-132 - get paper here
  • Boone, James L.;Sowell, Chris L. 1999. Geographic distribution. Eumeces gilberti rubricaudatus. Herpetological Review 30 (1): 52 - get paper here
  • Bradley, W. Glen and James E. Deacon 1966. Amphibian and Reptile Records for Southern Nevada. Southwestern Naturalist 11 (1): 132-134 - get paper here
  • BRANDLEY, MATTHEW C.; OTA, HIDETOSHI; HIKIDA, TSUTOMU; NIETO MONTES DE OCA, ADRIAN; FERIA-ORTIZ, MANUEL; GUO, XIANGUANG; WANG, YUEZHAO 2012. The phylogenetic systematics of blue-tailed skinks (Plestiodon) and the family Scincidae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 165 (1): 163-189 - get paper here
  • BUCK, M 2020. Geographic Distribution: Plestiodon gilberti (Gilbert’s Skink). USA: California: Kern Co. Herpetological Review 51: 542.
  • Camp, C.L. 1916. The subspecies of Sceloporus occidentalis, with description of a new form from the Sierra Nevada and systematic notes on other California lizards. Univ. California Publ. Zool. 17: 63-74
  • Clark, Howard O., Jr. and Susan I. Hagen. 2013. Plestiodon gilberti (Gilbert's skink) predation. Herpetological Review 44 (4): 681 - get paper here
  • Collins, J.T. and T. W. Taggart 2009. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Sixth Edition. Center for North American Herpetology, 48 pp.
  • 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
  • de Queiroz, A. & K. de Queiroz 1987. Prey Handling Behavior of Eumeces gilberti with Comments on Headfirst Ingestion in Squamates Journal of Herpetology 21 (1): 57-63. - get paper here
  • Detwiler, Henry D. and James C. Rorabaugh. 2015. Plestiodon gilberti (Gilbert's skink) male combat. Herpetological Review 46 (1): 94 - get paper here
  • Goldberg, S.R. 2009. Reproductive Cycle of Gilbert's Skink, Plestiodon gilberti (Squamata: Scincidae) from California Bull. Maryland Herpetol. Soc., 45(2): 28-32. - get paper here
  • Griffith, H., A. Ngo & R. W. Murphy 2000. A cladistic evaluation of the cosmopolitan genus Eumeces Wiegmann (Reptilia, Squamata, Scincidae). Russ. J. Herpetol. 7 (1): 1-16 - get paper here
  • Hall, Derek B.; Kevin T. Shoemaker, and Paul D. Greger 2019. Western Red-tailed Skink (Plestiodon gilberti rubricaudatus) Distribution and Habitat Use in Southern Nevada, USA. Herp. Conserv. Biology 14 (2): - get paper here
  • Hansen, Robert and Jackson D. Shedd 2025. California Amphibians and Reptiles. Princeton University Press, 528 pp., ISBN<br />9780691249087 (ebook) - get paper here
  • Hubbs, Brian and Brian Hinds. 2015. Geographic Distribution: Plestiodon gilberti (Gilbert skink). Herpetological Review 46 (4): 570-571 - get paper here
  • Jones K B 1985. Eumeces gilberti van Denburgh. Gilbert's skink. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 372: 1-3 - get paper here
  • Jones, K.B.; Abbas, D.R. & Bergstedt, T. 1981. Herpetological records from Central and Northeastern Arizona. Herpetological Review 12 (1): 16 - get paper here
  • Jones, L.L. & Lovich, R.E. 2009. Lizards of the American Southwest. A photographic field guide. Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, AZ, 568 pp. [review in Reptilia 86: 84] - get paper here
  • Lowe, C.H. and Shannon, F.A. 1954. A new lizards (Genus Eumeces) from Arizona. Herpetologica 10: 185-187 - get paper here
  • Peralta-García A, Valdez-Villavicencio JH, Fucsko LA, Hollingsworth BD, Johnson JD, Mata-Silva V, Rocha A, DeSantis DL, Porras LW, and Wilson LD. 2023. The herpetofauna of the Baja California Peninsula and its adjacent islands, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 17(1&2): 57–142
  • PERPIGNANI, RACHEL & JEFF A. ALVAREZ. 2023. An Observation of Tail-bifurcation in a Gilbert’s Skink, Plestiodon gilberti. Sonoran Herpetologist 36(1): 15–16. - get paper here
  • Pilliod, D., Jeffries, M., Arkle, R. and Olson, D. 2024. Climate Futures for Lizards and Snakes in Western North America May Result in New Species Management Issues. Ecol Evol, 14: e70379 - get paper here
  • Richmond & Reeder 2002. Evidence for Parallel Ecological Speciation in Scincid Lizards of the Eumeces skiltonianus Species Group (Squamata: Scincidae). Evolution 56: 1498–1513 - get paper here
  • Richmond, J.Q. 2006. Evolutionary basis of parallelism in North American scincid lizards. EVOLUTI ON & DEVELOPMENT 8 (6): 477–490 - get paper here
  • Rodgers 1944. A New Skink from the Sierra Nevada of California. Copeia 1944 (2): 101-104 - get paper here
  • Rodgers, Thomas L.; Fitch, Henry S. 1947. Variation in the skinks (Reptilia: Lacertilia) of the skiltonianus group. Univ. California Publ. Zool. 48 (4): 169-220
  • Rodríguez-Robles, Javier A., Good, David A., Wake, David B. 2003. Brief History of Herpetology in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, with a List of Type Specimens of Recent Amphibians and Reptiles. UC Publications in Zoology, 119 pp. - get paper here
  • Schmitz, Andreas; Patrick Mausfeld and Dirk Embert 2004. Molecular studies on the genus Eumeces Wiegmann, 1834: phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic implications. Hamadryad 28 (1-2): 73 – 89 - get paper here
  • SHERBROOKE, WADE C. & CASEY MOSS. 2021. PLESTIODON GILBERTI (Gilbert’s Skink). PREDATION. Herpetological Review 52 (2): 412. - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1946. Handbook of Lizards: Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Comstock, Ithaca, NY, xxii + 557 pp.
  • Stebbins,R.C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston
  • Taylor, E. H. 1936. A taxonomic study of the cosmopolitan lizards of the genus Eumeces with an account of the distribution and relationship of its species. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 23 (14): 1-643 [1935] - get paper here
  • Taylor, E. H. 1943. Mexican lizards of the genus Eumeces, with comments on the recent literature on the genus. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 29 (5): 269-300 - get paper here
  • Van Denburgh, John 1896. A list of some reptiles from Southeastern Arizona, with a description of a new species of Cnemidophorus. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (2) 6: 338-349 - get paper here
  • Vitt, L. J. 1974. Geographic distribution of Eumeces gilberti arizonensis (Arizona skink). Herpetological Review 5 (3): 69-70 - get paper here
  • Vitt, Laurie J.; Justin D. Congdon, Nancy A. Dickson 1977. Adaptive Strategies and Energetics of Tail Autonomy in Lizards. Ecology 58 (2): 326-337 - get paper here
  • Werning, Heiko 2012. Die Reptilien und Amphibien des Südwestens. Draco 13 (50): 18-60 - get paper here
  • Williams, S; 2019. Plestiodon gilberti (Gilbert’s Skink) Predation. Herpetological Review 50 (1): 144 - get paper here
 
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