9 Lizards Native to East Tennessee and How to Tell Them Apart
September 18, 2026
Anyone who has flipped over a log in the Great Smoky Mountains or watched a fence post shimmer with movement on a summer afternoon has probably crossed paths with one of the nine types of lizards in East Tennessee. Tennessee is home to nine lizard species, and nearly all of them turn up somewhere between the Cumberland Plateau and the Smokies.
None of these lizards carry venom or pose any real danger to people. Instead, they fill the role of insect control specialists, basking on rocks, scurrying through leaf litter, and darting across fence rails. This guide breaks down each species found in the eastern part of the state, covering size, coloring, habitat, and the small details that separate one skink from another.
1. Eastern Fence Lizard
The Eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) goes by several regional nicknames, including prairie lizard, fence swift, gray lizard, and pine lizard. It ranges across a wide swath of the Southeast, turning up in Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, southern Illinois, and Mississippi. Adults reach up to 7.5 inches including the tail.
Color patterns differ by sex. Males are brown and often shift toward a green-blue tone in summer, with black patches on the sides of the belly and throat, while females stay gray with dark crossbands, white bellies, and pale blue throat patches. Look for these lizards on boulders, stone walls, and old logs, since they favor rocky habitat and climb readily onto fences and fallen timber.
Eastern fence lizards eat roughly twice a day, foraging for ants, beetles, and grasshoppers before returning to the same general territory at night. Fire ants pose a surprising threat, capable of killing a fence lizard in under an hour, which has pushed the species to develop thicker skin, longer limbs, and a habit of climbing trees to avoid ground-level ant colonies.
Pro Tip: Fence lizards are most active in early morning before temperatures climb, so that window offers the best odds of spotting one basking in open sun.
2. Six-Lined Racerunner
The six-lined racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata) is built for speed. This diurnal species hunts along the ground during daylight hours, relying on quick bursts of movement rather than camouflage to avoid predators. Its body is brown or grayish with six pale yellowish-white stripes running from head to tail.
Like most lizards in the region, racerunners can detach their tails when grabbed, leaving a still-wriggling distraction behind while they escape and later regrow the lost section. The species ranges across the South-Central and Southeastern United States, overlapping with populations as far away as Texas.
Racerunners are omnivorous, feeding on insects, spiders, slugs, snails, earthworms, and even small vertebrates such as frogs or other lizards. They prefer moist woodlands and grasslands with logs or rocks for cover, along with loose soil suitable for burrowing.
3. Coal Skink
The coal skink (Plestiodon anthracinus) is one of the harder species to find in East Tennessee, and for good reason. According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the Northern coal skink subspecies occurs specifically within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while the Southern coal skink sticks to the Tennessee River area in the western part of the state.
This medium-sized lizard measures 5.0 to 7.0 inches long, with smooth, shiny scales and noticeably short legs. Its back ranges from olive-gray to brown, marked by a wide dark brown or black lateral stripe running from the head onto the tail on each side, bordered above and below by a thin light line. Breeding-season males develop a dark orange or reddish tint on the sides of the head, and Wikipedia notes it is technically a four-lined skink whose light stripes extend onto the tail.
Common Mistake: It’s easy to confuse a coal skink with a five-lined skink at a glance. The giveaway is the back: coal skinks never have a stripe running down the center, while both five-lined species do.
Coal skinks favor open, moist forests near streams, rivers, or sloughs. Research from the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory describes them as uncommonly encountered, often sheltering under rocks and logs along stream edges, and diving into water to hide beneath aquatic debris when disturbed.
4. Common Five-Lined Skink
The common five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) ranks among the most frequently spotted lizards in the state, and East Tennessee’s forests hold plenty of them. Adults can reach nearly 8.75 inches, with five prominent stripes that show up boldest in hatchlings and gradually fade as the skink matures. Newly hatched individuals are almost black with sharp light stripes, and that dark background lightens to gray over time as the stripes themselves darken.
The tail stands out even more than the stripes. Juveniles sport a bright blue tail that shifts to pale blue in adulthood, and breeding males develop an orange-red flush along the jaw. Look for this species in wooded areas near rotting stumps, rock outcrops, and even piles of boards or sawdust, where it hunts beetles, crickets, and other insects.
5. Southeastern Five-Lined Skink
The southeastern five-lined skink (Plestiodon inexpectatus) shares the classic five-stripe pattern and bright blue juvenile tail seen in its common cousin, but it tends toward drier ground. This species turns up in forests, fields, and rocky areas, basking openly on rocks or logs when the sun is out.
Its diet leans toward larger prey than some other skinks, with a preference for grasshoppers alongside general insects, spiders, and small vertebrates. It also happens to be completely harmless to people.
Key Insight: If a southeastern five-lined skink ever nips a finger while being handled, the bite is non-venomous and causes no real harm. The only danger is a minor pinch.
6. Broad-Headed Skink
The broad-headed skink (Plestiodon laticeps) is easy to distinguish once its most obvious feature is known: a wide, triangular head paired with smooth back scales. Coloring runs brownish-gray with a lighter underside, and some individuals show scattered blue or yellow flecks along the back.
Adults can grow past 12 inches, making this one of the larger skinks found in Tennessee’s forests. Males typically show a uniform brown or olive tone, while females often retain some striping into adulthood, especially compared to males. During breeding season, males develop bright orange-red coloring along the jawline, and in some individuals the entire head turns a striking orange.
This species shares the omnivorous appetite common to Tennessee’s skinks, eating insects, spiders, slugs, snails, earthworms, vegetation, and occasionally smaller vertebrates like frogs or other lizards. It favors moist woodlands and grasslands with logs or rocks for cover and loose soil for burrowing.
7. Little Brown Skink
Measuring just a few inches long, the little brown skink (Scincella lateralis) is one of the smallest reptiles found anywhere in Tennessee, including the mountains and valleys of the eastern region. Its small size makes it vulnerable to a long list of predators, including snakes, larger lizards, and birds of prey. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park lists the species among the reptiles documented on its trails.
Coloring runs from brown to nearly black, with whitish markings scattered through the middle of the scales. Younger individuals show dark stripes along the back and sides, which fade into faint crossbands as the skink ages. When a predator tries to sneak up on what looks like a resting little brown skink, the lizard often bolts at the last second, using surprise as its main defense.
Little brown skinks hunt insects, spiders, and even small rodents or other lizards, but their rigid jaw structure means they can only swallow prey smaller than their own head. They share their leaf-litter habitat with plenty of other small invertebrates, including the region’s caterpillars.
8. Slender Glass Lizard
At first glance, the slender glass lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus) looks a lot like a snake. It has no visible legs, an elongated head, a pointed snout, and a long, rounded tail. Two subspecies occur in the eastern United States: the Western slender glass lizard, with a comparatively shorter tail, and the Eastern slender glass lizard, which carries a noticeably longer one.
The name “glass lizard” comes from an extreme version of the tail-shedding trick common to many lizards on this list. The tail snaps off with almost no resistance, a trait that gives the species its fragile, glass-like reputation. Because it lacks legs entirely, this species is frequently mistaken for a snake and mishandled or killed out of fear, even though it poses no threat and simply relies on speed and its breakaway tail to escape danger.
9. Green Anole
The green anole (Anolis carolinensis) is almost certainly the most abundant and widespread lizard in Tennessee, turning up in every corner of the state. Adults reach 5 to 8 inches in total length, and roughly seventy percent of that measurement is tail. The body is slender with long toes and a narrow, pointed head.
True to its name, this species is typically green, but it can shift rapidly between bright green, brown, and gray depending on temperature, mood, and background, giving it a built-in camouflage advantage. Males show off a bright red or pink throat fan called a dewlap, though the color can range into white, magenta, or even blue and purple depending on the individual. Females carry a much smaller, paler dewlap and use it far less often.
Green anoles are highly arboreal, spending most of their time in trees, shrubs, and other vegetation rather than on the ground. They are frequently seen perched on branches, fence posts, and the exterior walls of homes, which has made this species one of the most popular pet lizards for beginner reptile keepers.
Pro Tip: Watch for the dewlap display during spring and summer. A male puffing out his throat fan while bobbing his head is defending territory or courting a female, and it’s one of the easiest ways to confirm you’re looking at a green anole rather than a similarly colored juvenile skink.
East Tennessee’s mix of mountain forests, rocky ridgelines, and river valleys gives all nine of these species room to thrive without overlapping too heavily in habitat. None of them are venomous or dangerous to handle, and most spend their days quietly managing local insect populations rather than causing any trouble for homeowners or hikers.
Anyone spending time outdoors in the region is likely to notice plenty of other wildlife alongside these lizards, from woodpeckers working dead trees to eagles soaring over the ridgelines and deer moving through the same forest edges these lizards call home. Learning to identify the region’s reptiles is a natural next step for anyone building a broader picture of East Tennessee’s wildlife.