The rare blue-tailed mole skink
is known only from scrub and sandhills habitats on
Florida's Lake Wales Ridge in Polk, Osceola and Highlands
Counties. Other subspecies of mole skinks occur
throughout Florida, southern Georgia and southeastern
Alabama, but this is the only one on the US list of Threatenedspecies. Mole skinks reach about 5" in
total length, with the tail making up slightly more than
half. They feed on tiny invertebrates, especially
roaches, spiders and crickets. Mole skinks spend most of
their time below the surface where they "swim"
through the loose scrub sand. Many species of skinks
(lizards in the family Scincidae) have blue tails as
juveniles, but the blue-tailed mole skink tends to retain
the trait as an adult.
The rare blue-tailed mole skink
is known only from scrub and sandhills habitats on
Florida's Lake Wales Ridge in Polk, Osceola and Highlands
Counties. Other subspecies of mole skinks occur
throughout Florida, southern Georgia and southeastern
Alabama, but this is the only one on the US list of Threatened
species. Mole skinks reach about 5" in
total length, with the tail making up slightly more than
half. They feed on tiny invertebrates, especially
roaches, spiders and crickets. Mole skinks spend most of
their time below the surface where they "swim"
through the loose scrub sand. Many species of skinks
(lizards in the family Scincidae) have blue tails as
juveniles, but the blue-tailed mole skink tends to retain
the trait as an adult. 
