Super Skinks
A skink is a really cool type of lizard. Skinks are the most diverse and successful group of lizards and are found worldwide. One reason why they are doing so well is because of their good sense of smell, sight, and hearing. Like other lizards, skinks can also lose their tail, but some can only lose their tail once. Even though skinks are doing so well, there are still some species of skinks that are endangered. The Blue Mountain Skinks, White’s Skinks, and Broadhead Skinks are some examples of skinks that are either endangered or threatened.
One reason why I think skinks are such cool reptiles is because they look different from almost all other reptiles. Skinks usually have short legs or none at all and their whole body is covered with smooth, shiny, overlapping scales. These scales are striped in bright reds, oranges, blues, yellows, blacks, and browns so they blend in almost perfectly in a garden. Pacific Skinks are the best skinks at camouflaging. These skinks can change colors, like chameleons, in a matter of seconds. This is probably why there are so many skinks in and around gardens. If you happen to have a skink in yours, don’t try to kill it because when skinks are in a garden, it usually means that your garden is healthy. Skinks are also really nutritious and help gardens a lot. They help almost as much as fertilizer!
If you asked some skinks what their favorite food was, most of them would probably say insects. Some might say spiders, earthworms, isopods (a type of crustacean), or lizards, though. Every once in a while, a big skink might eat a small rodent, but since the average skink is rarely longer than 200 mm, they can’t eat anything too big. The longest recorded skink was huge (350 mm long!).
So far on our trip, we have seen a Rainbow Skink, a Many-lined Sun Skink, and a Speckled Forest Skink, but I hope to see more of these amazing reptiles. So, next time you see a skink, instead of ignoring it, remember how important and helpful they are to people!
Fun Facts:
1. There aren’t any venomous skinks, but there are two types of venomous lizards (the Gila Monster and the Mexican Bearded Dragon). They both live in the southwestern part of the United States and northern Mexico.
2. Some people own skinks, iguanas, bearded dragons, leopard geckos, or even monitor lizards as pets!
3. Skinks have eyelids that blink, but other lizards don’t even have eyelids.
4. Many lizards can change color according to where they are like the chameleon.
5. The Collared Lizard is the fastest type of lizard recorded.