skink

skink

Striped broad-headed skink (Eumeces laticeps)

(credit: John H. Gerard from The National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers)

Any of about 1,275 species (family Scincidae) of lizards found throughout the tropics and in temperate regions of North America. Skinks have a cylindrical body, a conical head, and a long, tapering tail. Some species are 26 in. (66 cm) long, but most are under 8 in. (20 cm). Some have small or no limbs and sunken eardrums. Most are ground-dwellers or burrowers; some are arboreal or semiaquatic. Skinks eat insects and other small invertebrates; large species are herbivorous. Some species lay eggs; others bear live young.

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skink [skiŋk]

(vertebrate zoology)

Any of numerous small- to medium-sized lizards comprising the family Scincidae with a cylindrical body; short, sometimes vestigial, legs; cores of bone in the body scales; and pleurodont dentition.