THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Scincidae  

Gilbert's Skink
Plestiodon gilberti (Van Denburgh, 1896)
pless-tee-OH-don — gil-BERT-ai

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Richmond and Reeder (2002, Evolution 56: 1498–1513) presented mtDNA evidence that populations previously referred to P. gilberti represent three lineages that separately evolved large body size and the loss of stripes in late ontogenetic stages. Although they considered those three lineages to merit species recognition, they did not propose specific taxonomic changes. Subsequently, Richmond and Jockusch (2007, Proceeding of the Royal Society of London B 274: 1701–1708) and Richmond et al. (2011, American Naturalist 178: 320–332) have treated them as a single species based on extensive introgressive hybridization between two of the forms and the lack of prezygotic isolation between members of all pairs of them. The results of Richmond and Reeder (op. cit.) contradict the recognition of P. g. arizonensis, which is not differentiated from P. g. rubricaudatus and therefore has been eliminated from this list and indicate the existence of an unnamed and at least partially separate lineage within P. g. rubricaudatus (their clade C or Inyo clade). In addition, those results suggest that the former subspecies P. g. gilberti and P. g. placerensis form a single unit (their clade I or Sierran clade), while P. g. cancellosus and P. g. rubricaudatus also form a single unit (their clade A or southwestern clade), findings that are consistent with large areas of intergradation between the pairs of forms (e.g., Jones, 1985, Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. 372.1–3). We, therefore, recognize only three subspecies corresponding to the three lineages inferred by Richmond and Reeder (op. cit.).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.10.08.04.16)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.75 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Arizona California Nevada

First instance(s) of published English names:
Red-headed Skink (Eumeces gilberti: Van Denburgh, John. 1897. The reptiles of the Pacific Coast and Great Basin: An account of the species known to inhabit California, and Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 5():9-236); Gilbert's Skink (Eumeces gilberti: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Alameda Skink (Eumeces gilberti cancellosus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Greater Western Skink (Eumeces gilberti gilberti: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Western Red-tailed Skink (Eumeces gilberti rubricaudatus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1896 Van Denburgh, John. A list of some reptiles from Southeastern Arizona, with a description of a new species of Cnemidophorus. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 2(6):338-349
1985 Jones, K. Bruce. Eumeces gilberti. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (372):1-3
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Viewpoint: A new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibins and reptiles Herpetological Review 22(2):42-43
2002 Richmond, Jonathan Q. and Tod W. Reeder. Evidence for parallel ecological speciation in Scincid lizards of the Eumeces skiltonianus species group (Squamata: Scincidae). Evolution 56(7):1498-1513
2005 Smith, Hobart M. Plestiodon: A replacement name for most members of the genus Eumeces in North America. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (14):15-16
2011 Brandley, Matthew C., Yuezhao Wang, Xianguang Guo, Adrian Nieto Montes De Oca, Manuel Feria-Ortiz, Tsutomu Hikda, and Hidetoshi Ota. Accommodating heterogenous rates of evolution in molecular divergence dating methods: An example using intercontinental dispersal of Plestiodon (Eumeces) lizards. Systematic Biology 60(1):2-15
2012 Brandley, Matthew C., Hidetoshi Ota, Tsutomu Hikida, Adrian Nieto Montes de Oca, Manuel Feria-Ortiz, Xianguang Guo, and Yuezhao Wang. The phylogenetic systematics of blue-tailed skinks (Plestiodon) and the family Scincidae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 165(1):163-189
2014 Crother, Brian I. The bold taxonomic hypotheses of Collins (1991): 23 years later. Herpetological Review 45(2):268-272

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 13 June 2025 05:06 CT