Western Skink - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Tetrapoda:Amniota:Squamata:Reptilia:Scincidae

Baird and Girard described Skilton's Skink in 1852 and named it in honor of one Dr. Avery J. Skilton, who had sent them specimen of the species. Tanner (1957) identified the subspecies interparietalis and utahensis.

There are several subspecies:

• Coronado Skink (E.s. interparietalis) (occurs in southern California and Baja California, Mexico)
• Great Basin Skink (E.s. utahensis) (occurs in Utah)
• Skilton's Skink (E.s. skiltonianus)

The most common is Skilton's Skink, which occurs throughout the western United States west of the Rocky Mountains and in southern British Columbia, Canada.

Together with the Gilbert's Skink (E. gilberti), the San Lucan Skink (E. lagunensis), and the Four-lined Asiatic Skink (E. quadrilineatus), the Western Skink belongs to the so-called "skiltonianus group". The exact taxonomy within this group is being questioned and may need revision following DNA analysis research.