NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Five-lined Skink
Plestiodon fasciatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Five-lined Skink, Eumeces fasciatus, adult male. Location: Durham County, North Carolina, United States
Patrick Coin · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
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 United States and one of the five native species of lizards in Canada.
Wikipedia contributors, Plestiodon fasciatus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:54:47.452876+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Plestiodon fasciatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Five-lined Skink
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Scincidae
- Genus
- Plestiodon
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyScincidae
- subfamilyScincinae
- genusPlestiodon
- speciesPlestiodon fasciatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Plestiodon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Four-lined SkinkPlestiodon tetragrammus Baird, 1859 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Shanghai Elegant SkinkPlestiodon elegans (Boulenger, 1887) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Broadhead SkinkPlestiodon laticeps (Schneider, 1801) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Plestiodon multivirgatus Hallowell, 1858 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chinese blue-tailed SkinkPlestiodon chinensis (Gray, 1839) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Two-lined Short-nosed SkinkPlestiodon bilineatus (Tanner, 1958) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Japanese SkinkPlestiodon kishinouyei (Stejneger, 1901) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ousima SkinkPlestiodon marginatus Hallowell, 1861 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pope's SkinkPlestiodon popei (Hikida, 1989) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Colima SkinkPlestiodon colimensis (Taylor, 1935) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Shortnose SkinkPlestiodon brevirostris (Günther, 1860) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Duges' SkinkPlestiodon dugesii (Thominot, 1883) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Lacerta fasciata Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Lacerta quinquelineata Linnaeus, 1766 Linnaeus, 1766 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Plestiodon&species=fasciatus Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6W2DX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.