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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
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  • 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
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  • Felix, Zach I. 2013. Geographic Distribution: Plestiodon laticeps (broad-headed skink). Herpetological Review 44 (4): 626 - get paper here
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