Plestiodon fasciatus  The (American) five-lined skink ("Plestiodon fasciatus") is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to North America. It is one of the most common lizards in the eastern U.S. and one of the seven native species of lizards in Canada. Other common names for "P. fasciatus" include blue-tailed skink (for juveniles) and red-headed skink (for adults). It is technically appropriate to call it the American five-lined skink to distinguish it from the African skink "Trachylepis quinquetaeniata" (otherwise known as five-lined mabuya) or the eastern red-headed skink to distinguish it from its western relative "Plestiodon skiltonianus" (otherwise known as the western skink). The blue-tailed skink proper is "Cryptoblepharus egeriae" from Christmas Island, but in North America the juveniles of any "Eumeces" or "Plestiodon" species may be called this. The American five-lined skink is small to medium-sized, growing to about total length (including tail). Young American five-lined skinks are dark brown to black with five distinctive white to yellowish stripes running along the body and a bright blue tail. The blue color fades to light blue with age, and the stripes also may slowly disappear. The dark brown color fades, too, and older individuals are often uniformly brownish. The southeastern five-lined skink, "P. inexpectatus", of the Southeastern United States is very similar to this species and there is some overlap in range. The two species can be distinguished by their scales. The broad-headed skink, "P. laticeps", is similar, and may be difficult to distinguish from "P. fasciatus". The former species usually lacks the two enlarged postlabial scales characteristic of "P. fasciatus". Adult male broad-headed skinks, with their large size and swollen red head, are readily distinguished from "P. fasciatus". The range of the American five-lined skink extends in the north to southern Ontario, Michigan and eastern New York. The western border is in Minnesota, Missouri and eastern Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. "P. fasciatus" tends to be most abundant on the coastal plain in the southeastern United States and along the Gulf Coast.