Coal Skink

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Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas

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Coal Skink

Plestiodon anthracinus (Baird, 1849)

Overview

The Coal Skink is characterized by four limbs, an ear opening on each side of the head, smooth, flat, shiny scales on its body, a broad, dark brown, or black stripe on each side of the body from the eye onto the tail bordered by a thin light stripe, and no light stripes on the head. The back, head, limbs, and tail are medium olive-brown to brown. The belly is gray. In males the chin and jaws are orange-red during the breeding season.
Adults normally 125-178 mm (5-7 inches) in total length. The largest specimen from Kansas is a female (KU 88527) from Miami County with a snout-vent length of 59 mm and a total length of 176 mm (7 inches) collected by Jack E. Joy in May 1949. This is the maximum length throughout the range (Powell et al., 2016).

Distribution

The habitat requirement of this species in Kansas are largely unknown. It has been observed in heavily wooded regions of eastern Kansas, generally east of the Flint Hills, and south of the Kansas River.Fleharty and Ittner (1967) reported three specimens (FHSM 2094, 2141-42) collected on 17 and 20 April 1965 under rocks in the grassy floodplain along the Smoky Hill River, 2 mi. W and 9 mi. S of Hays, Ellis County. These specimens have been examined and possess single undivided (entire) postmental scales (a character of the Coal Skink generally recognized to differentiate it from the Prairie Skink [Plestiodon septentrionalis]). The specimens have been reassigned as Prairie Skinks.
Taylor (1935) notes "In eastern Kansas its distribution seems quite erratic."
Smith (1950, 1956) reported this species from west of Carolton [sic?] in Dickinson County. See the Remarks for a discussion of this specimen.

Reproduction

Coal Skinks are seldom seen in Kansas and their habits are not well understood. They are most often encountered while foraging among fallen leaves or under cover adjacent to woodland streams. They do not climb while being pursued but have been noted to enter the water (Taylor 1935) to avoid capture.
Based on the few reports of Kansas specimens, this secretive lizard inhabits leaf-littered rocky slopes of forests, often near water. The Coal Skink is active only during the day, but little is known of its habits. It retreats beneath the ground during the winter, presumably in crevices or burrows of other animals.
Taylor (1935) found specimens under rocks on rocky bluffs along Pottawatomie Creek in Anderson County. In Cherokee County, he discovered them near a small spring which had a flowing outlet, filled with water cress. In his search for salamanders, among the roots of the water cress, a specimen was found, apparently having taken refuge among the plants. He captured of 15 specimens of varying sizes among a scattered pile of small rocks in a nearby pasture and another in woods under a log.
Fleharty and Johnson (1975) found an example of this lizard on a south-facing hillside beneath a sandstone rock on 20 April in Chautauqua County. Rush and Fleharty (1981) collected another speci men beneath debris on a hillside in Neosho County on 26 April at an air temperature of 55°F. Collins (1982) observed seven of these lizards active from 10 April to 22 May in Cherokee County, six on rocky, leaf-covered slopes and one beneath a log.
Gloyd (1928) recorded a female from Franklin County which laid eight eggs between 21 and 23 June. Six of the eggs hatched between 24 and 25 July, an incubation period slightly over one month. Collins (1975) reported a clutch of eleven eggs laid on 19 May from a Coal Skink collected in Douglas County on 14 April and observed that the female protected the eggs, when they were disturbed, by curling on top of them. Irwin (1982) recorded a clutch of ten eggs laid in late May from a Coal Skink collected in Cherokee County on 1 May; a second specimen collected on 17 April from the same county contained nine eggs.
According to Gloyd (1928), the Coal Skink feeds on small insects. Taylor (1935) examined the stomach contents of a series from Cherokee County and found a variety of small invertebrate. Predators of the Coal Skink include small mammals, snakes, and larger lizards (Collins, 1993).

Remarks

First reported from Kansas by Householder (1916) (as Eumeces pluvialis), however his specimen (verified at the time by United States National Museum herpetologist Dr. Leonard Stejneger) was collected in Dickinson County and significantly outside the range/habitat of this species as currently understood. Taylor (1920) adds to this story by stating that the Dickinson County specimen is in the collection at the University of Kansas, and that it was collected by John Sterling.
Burt (1928) mentions that he had seventeen specimens from Kansas on hand for study. He adds that both Leonard Stejneger and Doris M. Cochran compared to the co-types of "Eumeces pluvialis" and "Eumeces anthracinus" to the specimen in question, and it possessed had long toes and delicate, slender limbs characteristic of the former. The specimen is likely Plestiodon septentrionalis. Burt (op cit.) felt that these characters were too variable to be of use, and discussed all Kansas specimens as E. anthracinus. He also gave the catalog number of the specimen (KU 744) and reported on a series of specimens collected by Howard K. Gloyd in Franklin County and deposited in the museum at Ottawa University (since lost) and another specimen (Ottawa University 201) also in the museum at Ottawa University (also lost). University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute (KU 744; collected April 1914 by Jack Sterling at Carlton, Dickinson County) is currently cataloged as Plestiodon septentrionalis.
Gloyd (1932) published on several of the specimens mentioned in Burt (1928) based specimens he procured around Pigeon Lake in south-central Miami County on 15 May 1926, 19 March 1927, 25 March 1928, 31 August 1928, and 6 April 1929.
The earliest existing specimen (KU 742) was collected in Anderson County by Edward H. Taylor in August of 1909. However, Taylor (1920) makes no mention of it.

The earliest existing specimen from Kansas is (University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute [KU 744]) collected at Ca
This species is secretive, and thus a seldom-seen and poorly understood lizard. The few records available prevent an accurate description of its habitat, and the possibility can't be ruled out that this species actually consists of scattered relictual and localized populations in the state. More survey work is needed so that baseline data exists for future comparisons.

References

Householder, Victor H. 1916. The Lizards and Turtles of Kansas with Notes on Their Distribution and Habitat. Thesis. University of Kansas, Lawrence. 100 pp.

Taylor, Edward H. 1920. The lizards of Kansas with notes on habits. Thesis. University of Kansas, Lawrence. 117 pp.

Burt, Charles E. 1928. A key to the species of lizards definitely reported from Kansas. Privately printed, Enterprise Press, Bristow, Nebraska.

Burt, Charles E. 1928. The lizards of Kansas. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis 26(1):1-81.

Gloyd, Howard K. 1932. The herpetological fauna of the Pigeon Lake Region, Miami County, Kansas. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters 15:389-408.

Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1933. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 3rd Edition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Taylor, Edward H. 1936. A taxonomic study of the cosmopolitan scincoid lizards of the genus Eumeces, with an account of the distribution and relationships of its species. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 23(1):1-643.

Smith, Hobart M. 1946. The systematic status of Eumeces pluvialis Cope, a noteworthy records of other amphibians and reptiles from Kansas and Oklahoma. University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History 1(2):85-89.

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Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280 pp.

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Last Updated: 08/07/2023 8:41:33 AM CT

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Tuesday 09 June 2026 13:07 CT