---
title: "Little Brown Skink"
description: "Scincella lateralis — Reptiles. Scincella lateralis, formerly Lygosoma laterale is a small species of skink found throughout much of the eastern half of the United States, and into northern Mexico."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/little-brown-skink
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Little Brown Skink

> Scincella lateralis — Reptiles. Scincella lateralis, formerly Lygosoma laterale is a small species of skink found throughout much of the eastern half of the United States, and into northern Mexico.

- Scientific name: *Scincella lateralis*
- Category: `reptiles` (Reptiles)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest)
- iNaturalist observations: 22620
- Wikidata: [Q2665590](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2665590)
- iNaturalist taxon: [60349](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/60349)

## Names

- en: Little Brown Skink
- de: Amerikanischer Zwergskink
- es: Eslizón de tierra
- fr: Scinque brun mineur
- nl: Kleine bruine skink

## Countries with the most observations

US (21899), MX (3)

## Summary

Scincella lateralis, formerly Lygosoma laterale is a small species of skink found throughout much of the eastern half of the United States, and into northern Mexico. The ground skink differs from the majority of North American lizard species in that it is generally considered a forest dweller. Common names for this species include the little brown skink and the ground skink.  However, the common name, ground skink, may refer to any species in the genus Scincella.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scincella_lateralis

## Photo

![Little Brown Skink](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/little-brown-skink/medium.jpg)

Photo: Nonbinary-Naturalist · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/252171459

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/little-brown-skink?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).