Life History and Ecology of the Five-Lined Skink, Eumeces fasciatus — John Shaqi
Life History and Ecology of the Five-Lined Skink, Eumeces fasciatusFitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Science
Life History and Ecology of the Five-Lined Skink, Eumeces fasciatus
Fitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Eumeces fasciatus
3:33 Boards providing shade readjusted so that female is in sunshine.
3:33-1/2 Female moves back into shadow over cooled metal.
3:38 Female moves to edge of cooled metal, resting partly in sunshine;
sky is becoming slightly overcast.
3:40 Temperature of female 33.4°C.
3:41 Temperature of young 32.8°C.
3:43 Temperature of _E. obsoletus_ 32.4°C.
3:45 Young moves to shaded edge of warmed metal. Finds a dead spider
dropped there and eats it.
3:47 Temperature of female 32.3°C.
3:48 Temperature of young 36.4°C.
3:50 Temperature of _E. obsoletus_ 33.8°C.
3:52 Sky partly overcast with thin layer of clouds;
observations concluded.
Having once emerged from its hiding place a skink becomes more or less
independent of the temperature of the air and substrate, as it is
capable of thermoregulation through insolation. However, after a period
of cooling and inactivity in dormancy, or merely resting for the night
in temporary shelter, the skink is dependent on warmth from the air or
substrate or both to become sufficiently activated so that it can emerge
and take advantage of direct sunlight. About 10:00 a. m. on April 13,
1951, when the air temperature was a little less than 10°C., a large
adult male rustling among dry leaves attracted my attention. Obviously
recently emerged from hibernation, he was caked with dried mud and his
eyelids were nearly sealed shut. He had been sunning, however, and was
active enough to elude my attempts to catch him, as he scurried into a
deep crevice under the ledge. On the morning of March 24, 1951, while
the temperature was still between 10° and 15°C., a subadult skink, the
first one of the season, was seen sunning itself at the entrance of a
deep crevice under the ledge. This skink was still not fully active, and
its movements were stiff, yet it was alert and wary, and it quickly
retreated back into the crevice. During the first week of May, 1952,
skinks were active in abundance and numbers were caught daily in funnel
traps and pitfalls. On May 9, however, the maximum air temperature was
16.5°C. with cloudy sky and occasional showers. Under these conditions
skinks stayed under cover; none was seen in the open nor caught in a
trap, and several found under rocks were slow and sluggish. On May 10 a
terrarium with several adults was placed in dilute sunshine beside a
window in an unheated room. After a period of basking the skinks were
stimulated to activity, but were unable to attain normally high
temperatures, and as a result their movements were like slow motion
caricatures of the normal behavior. Males approached each other with
menacing demeanor, with heads turned, snouts depressed, and forequarters
standing high. Frequently one would edge up to another and bite hard at
its flanks. The several males were sexually aroused by the presence of
the two females, but were capable of only the preliminary phases of
courtship, in delayed and protracted form.
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