NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Northern Prairie Skink
Plestiodon septentrionalis Baird, 1858
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The prairie skink (Plestiodon septentrionalis) is a species of skink endemic to the prairies east of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It is one of only six species of lizards that occur in Canada.
Wikipedia contributors, Prairie skink; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:09:24.777107+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Plestiodon septentrionalis Baird, 1858
- Name authority
- Baird, 1858
- Common name
- Northern Prairie 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 septentrionalis Baird, 1858
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 |
| Five-lined SkinkPlestiodon fasciatus (Linnaeus, 1758) | 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 |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Eumeces septentrionalis pallidus Smith & Slater, 1949 Smith & Slater, 1949 | synonym |
| Eumeces obtusirostris Bocourt, 1879 Bocourt, 1879 | synonym |
| Eumeces pachyurus Cope, 1880 Cope, 1880 | 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=septentrionalis 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:7827F. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.