Synonyms: Northern Coal Skink.
Coal Skink (Plestiodon anthracinus) occurs rarely on ridges and mountains of western Maryland. This lizard appears to prefer wooded slopes with high humidity, natural springs, and rocky outcroppings near water. In Maryland, Coal Skink is restricted to Allegany and Garrett Counties. The species as a whole has a curiously disjunct range, with the northern subspecies occurring primarily in highlands from New York to the central Appalachians. The southern form is found in patches west of the Mississippi R., and along portions of the gulf coast of the deep south (Conant & Collins, 1998; Maryland DNR site). Coal skink is endangered in Maryland, ranked as S1 (highly state rare), and considered vulnerable.
This skink shows four pale lines along the body, extending onto the basal portion of the tail. It lacks a pale dorsal line shown by related skinks in Maryland. On the chin, Coal shows a single postmental scale (two postmentals on related species in Maryland). Coal Skink also lacks prominent stripes on the face (Conant & Collins, 1998).
There are 7 records in the project database.
| GA | AL | WA | FR | CL | MO | HO | BA | BC | HA | CE | PG | AA | CV | CH | SM | KE | QA | CN | TA | DO | WI | SO | WO |
