There is no other field herping topic I dislike more than this one...

which is why I didn't want to comment on it when I first saw it. But now insightful aspects to share...All the skinks in my area are definitely mr. Greys (Calherps range maps reference). At first I had some ID-ed as skilton. Then was told all the skinks in my area where Gilbert's. So I went in and changed them all to Northern Browns in my Flickr photo album. Then realize they could be integrates. So, I changed all of them to western skink titles, thinking I was leaving it broad and open but still accurate. Like saying
fence lizard or
western pond turtle... now I'm reading that skilton's are actually also called, "western skinks"

I probably live in one of the most complex areas for ID-$ing these little guys. Right on the borders of Placer, El Dorado, Sutter counties to Sac county.
I look at that diagram posted above and in most cases I found skinks that had lateral and dorsal stripes only extending half the distance onto the tail, of what's displayed fpr skiltons in the diagram above...or the lateral stripes extended out twice as far than the short dorsal... But I have never seen a skink that has a lateral stripe as short as the diagram picture nor have I seen a skink that has dorsal and lateral stripes extending as long out onto the tail as the diagram picture. Assuming the diagram is accurate in proportion to the leg length. Having said that, here's a fresh spring baby from Placer County in Roseville that I'm pretty damn sure the lateral Stripes extended out past the dorsal but I don't have a picture anymore to the display that. I think I would have to find and capture a male and female of both Gilbert and Skilton, raise them in separate enclosures from birth, and observe the degree of fading as they age because when considering that aspect as a determining factor, it's damn near impossible to ID these things and boggles my mind up to no end. I give myself a headache trying to figure that out
Northern Brown Skink by
California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr
Northern Brown Skink by
California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr