Common Five-lined Skink vs. Broad-headed Skink

Young and females of both are black with five pale stripes and a bright blue tail, and old males of both fade to brown with an orange-red head, so colour does not separate them. Count the upper lip scales from the snout tip back to the large one directly below the eye: four in front of it on the Common Five-lined Skink, five on the Broad-headed. Size helps with adults: the Broad-headed is the biggest skink in Indiana, and old males have a swollen, very broad head.

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

More comparisons

• Little Brown Skink vs. Common Five-lined Skink
• Coal Skink vs. Common Five-lined Skink
• Prairie Skink vs. Common Five-lined Skink
• Great Plains Skink vs. Common Five-lined Skink
• Four-lined Skink vs. Common Five-lined Skink
• Southeastern Five-lined Skink vs. Common Five-lined Skink
• Mole Skink vs. Common Five-lined Skink
• Little Brown Skink vs. Broad-headed Skink
• Coal Skink vs. Broad-headed Skink
• Prairie Skink vs. Broad-headed Skink
• Great Plains Skink vs. Broad-headed Skink
• Four-lined Skink vs. Broad-headed Skink
• Southeastern Five-lined Skink vs. Broad-headed Skink

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