My Family's Collection: A Natural History of Three

     While enjoying the Easter Holiday, the family and I took a trip outside to enjoy the nice weather. My aunt had mentioned they have seen a large number of lizards around their house and downspout. Upon looking around the brick that covers her home, I spotted the largest lizard I have ever seen!

Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus "Northern Fence Lizard"

Female Fence Lizard DSCF1998

 
 This Fence Lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, (family Phrynosomatidae) can be identified by its' spiny appearance and awesome arboreal skills. Both males and females have a typically complete dark line running the rear side of their thigh. This species can be identified as female because of the strong wavy (undulating) pattern of dark/light cross bands. The base of her tail has red and orange coloration. The area in which this species was found (North Carolina) makes it a Northern Fence Lizard. This lizard is found in North America and is viviparous. They are terrestrial and arboreal. The typical danger avoidance this species displays is a quick dash up a surface and then freezes. If this species is disturbed again, it will continue to make short dashes up the surface until they are safe from the perceived danger. This is exactly what this species did when I was attempting to take pictures of it; it darted closer and closer to the neighboring bush the closer I got. It was thought amongst my family that she was pregnant by her enormous stomach, but they was no way for us to tell. There are typically small amounts of pale blue on Fence Lizard's sides, so I would assume that the blue would be even more noticeable if she were pregnant by the stretched and expanded color. No blue was seen on this species so I cannot confirm if she was pregnant or not. An interesting fact about a genus of the Phrynosomatidae family, Phrynosoma, is their ability to shoot blood from their orbital sinuses.

                                                      Anolis carolinensis "Green Anole"

Green Anole DSCF2002

     As I was studying and identifying the Fence Lizard, another lizard came crawling out of a bush onto some leaves to bask in the sun. This time, I didn't need to consult my handbook. It was a Green Anole (Anolis Carolinensis) from the family Polychrotidae. The Anole is mainly arboreal, found on trees, shrubs, and/or vines. Being arboreal is easy for this species due to the setae located on their feet. Setae makes it possible to cling onto vertical surfaces using Van der Waals interactions between the setae and the surface. Males possess a dewlap beneath their neck, which is pink, and used to attract females and defend territory. A dewlap was not observed so I cannot be certain which sex this species was. The size of this particular species was not unusually large or small; regular size around 5-8in. The Green Anole is the only native species in the United States. They eat insects and spiders and are oviparous.The Anole's behavior was just calm and didn't attempt to run or get away as I took close-up pictures. It moved slowly on the leaves until it found the perfect place to soak up some heat.

     To add to my already herp-filled day, I picked up the downspout splash block that was located just underneath the bush where the Anole came from and perpendicular to the brick wall where the Fence lizard had been sun bathing and found a Five Lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) from the family Scincidae.

Plestiodon fasciatus "Five-Lined Skink"

Male Five-Lined Skink DSCF2008

This family is located worldwide and can be distinguished as being a skink by their smooth, shiny scales that lay over osteoderms. They also have a very distinguishable arrow-shaped head that is often reddish color, depending on the species. Many individuals from this family are viviparous. A cool fact about this family is their tail autotomy that allows them to evade predators. Skinks are terrestrial and arboreal. They particularly like to hide under stones or in debris when there is moisture, making the drainage spout an ideal habitat. Skinks eat mostly insects and other arthropods but larger ones can sometimes manage baby mice or birds and bird eggs. I distinguished this species to be a male Skink due to its' red head. Also, this species can be identified from a southeastern five-lined skink by noticing the ventral scales on their tail and the mid-dorsal stripe. On the Five-Line Skink, the middle row of ventral scales will be larger than that of their neighbors on the tail. Since I did not pick up this specimen, I have to go on the fact that the mid-dorsal stripe is equal to the rest of its' stripes, indicating a Five-Lined Skink, instead of a Southern Five-Lined Skink. The size of this species was around 6-7in. When I lifted the downspout splash block, the Skink immediately run out from under the block and up the brick where it came to a quick stop. It pretty much sat there until I put the block back down.

Here is a picture of two of these species sharing a same habitat only a few inches away from each other... the third is below them under the downspout splash block.

Green Anole and Female Fence Lizard DSCF2005