Field Guide

The common five-lined skink is one of Missouri's most abundant skinks. Adults are olive or tan with lengthwise stripes. It is often called the blue-tailed skink for the coloration of juveniles. Occurs nearly statewide.

The broad-headed skink is a large, smooth-scaled lizard that lives in the southern two-thirds of Missouri. It is frequently confused with the common five-lined skink, which is smaller.

The Great Plains skink is a large, tan or light brown lizard with most of the scales edged in black, making it look speckled. These markings may form irregular lines along the back and sides. In Missouri, it's found only in our far western and southwestern counties.

Missouri has two subspecies of prairie skinks. They both have many stripes and a long tail. In Missouri, these lizards are rare. Northern prairie skinks occur only in our northwest counties. Southern prairie skinks are known only from Barton County, near Kansas.

The little brown skink is a ground-dweller with dark brown or black stripes and speckling along the sides. Hiking in the woods, you may hear these small lizards scurrying through dead leaves, but you seldom see them. Occurs nearly statewide.

The western slender glass lizard is often called “glass snake” because it is long, slender, and legless, and its tail breaks off easily. But glass lizards are true lizards, with eyelids and ear openings; snakes have neither of these characteristics.

Prairie racerunners are fast, alert, ground-dwelling lizards. They live in open areas like fields, grasslands, and rocky, south-facing hillsides, including Ozark glades. They are related to the whiptail lizards that live in the western United States.

The southern coal skink is secretive. It lives in the southern half of Missouri, excluding the Bootheel. Adults are small, shiny, and brownish, with a wide, coal-black line on the side. Juveniles are black with faint lines down the back and sides and a blue-gray tail.

The eastern collared lizard is colorful and has a long tail. In Missouri, this species is mostly restricted to rocky glade habitats in the southern half of the state.

The Texas horned lizard is rare in Missouri but once lived in several southwestern counties. Its name comes from the large, hornlike scales along the back of the head.