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Coal Skink vs. Common Five-lined Skink

A Coal Skink has a broad dark band down each side, edged above and below by a thin pale line: four pale lines in all, none down the middle of the back and none running forward onto the head. A Common Five-lined Skink has five pale stripes, one of them straight down the middle of the back, and the stripes run forward onto the head. Young of both are black with a bright blue tail.

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Coal Skink

Plestiodon anthracinus

Common Five-lined Skink

Plestiodon fasciatus
Coal Skink vs. Common Five-lined Skink: comparison sheet with the differences marked

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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