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Bluetail mole sink12/18/2023 ![]() The judge ordered the Service to make a new protection decision for the skink using the best available science, and the Service agreed to complete this work by September 15, 2022. In September 2019 we filed a lawsuit challenging this unlawful denial, and a year later we prevailed in court. In October of that year, however - under the Trump administration - the Fish and Wildlife Service denied Endangered Species Act protection to the Florida Keys mole skink, along with 24 other highly imperiled species. So after submitting a notice of intent to sue, in 2013 we filed a lawsuit seeking protections for this mole skink and its habitat - and a few months later, the Service agreed to make a protection decision by 2017. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the mole skink may warrant the Act's protection - but the agency failed to make a final decision. In its 2011 response to that petition, the U.S. ![]() In 2010 we filed a petition to protect 404 southeastern aquatic species, including the skink, under the Endangered Species Act. The data was created to serve as base information for use in GIS systems for a variety of planning and analytical purposes. The Center is working to halt destructive sea-level rise and prevent the extinction of Florida Keys mole skinks. Human population has spurred development along the shoreline in the Florida Keys, destroying many of the nooks and crannies this mole skink calls home. As a clever trick, mole skinks sometimes break off their colorful tails to distract potential predators. They hide under leaf litter, rocks and in sand pits to stay cool in the dry Florida brush lands. Its populations are currently in sharp decline because of urban development in the past and sea-level rise now and in the future, which causes flooding that destroys its habitat. Juvenile blue-tailed mole skinks have brown bodies with neon blue tails (hence their name) that turn pink as they mature. It is likely, therefore, that conservation efforts directed at the more common Florida Sand Skink and Florida Scrub Lizard would benefit the Bluetail Mole Skink.But this little lizard is in trouble much deeper than its burrows. Juveniles usually have a blue tail which makes up slightly more than half of. The concordance of genetic differentiation among these species is further evidence suggesting that similar conservation issues face the three species, namely, preserving the remaining xeric habitat. The bluetail mole skink is a small, shiny, cylindrical lizard of a brownish color. To generate important data for conserving this species, we characterized genetic variation at the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene and seven microsatellite loci among multiple populations. The Bluetail Mole Skink and the Florida Sand Skink had similar genetic diversity, and all three lizards had comparable patterns of genetic differentiation. The threatened Bluetail Mole Skink (Plestiodon egregius lividus) is limited to the xeric habitats of the southern Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida. Our results also suggest that each sampled habitat patch should be treated as a population and reintroductions should minimize the distance between recipient and source locations to limit altering the potential long-term pattern of genetic differentiation among Bluetail Mole Skinks on the Lake Wales Ridge. Patches can be divided into central and southern Lake Wales Ridge groups. The Bluetail Mole Skink was highly variable at the genetic markers, and significant genetic differentiation occurred among scrub patches. We compared the Bluetail Mole Skink's pattern of genetic diversity and differentiation to those of two other lizards with similar geographic and habitat distributions-the Florida Sand Skink (Plestiodon reynoldsi) and the Florida Scrub Lizard (Sceloporus woodi). ![]() To generate important data for conserving this species, we characterized genetic variation at the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene and seven microsatellite loci among multiple populations. lividus (Mount, 1965): occurs only in interior central Florida shares its Florida Scrub habitat with the Sand Skink. The threatened Bluetail Mole Skink (Plestiodon egregius lividus) is limited to the xeric habitats of the southern Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida. This is a small, agile skink which spends much of its time in the sand where it hunts invertebrates. Range-Wide Genetic Analysis of the Threatened Bluetail Mole Skink Identifies Similar Genetic Structure with Sympatric LizardsĪaron W. Plestiodon egregius lividus An adult from the sandhills of central Florida.
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