Eastern blue-tongued lizard

Eastern blue-tongued lizard
Juvenile
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Tiliqua
Species: T. scincoides
Subspecies: T. s. scincoides
Trinomial name
Tiliqua scincoides scincoides
(White, 1790)[1]
Eastern blue-tongued lizard in the Leipzig Zoological Garden, Leipzig, Germany

The eastern blue-tongued lizard (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides) is a subspecies of large skink which is common throughout eastern Australia, often found in bushland and suburban areas where conditions are suitable. The lizard is known as blue-tongue because its tongue can range from bright to dark blue, and it has a habit of displaying it prominently and hissing loudly when disturbed.

The eastern blue-tongued lizard is a stout and slow lizard with brown to grey scales and a barred pattern across the body and tail. The underside is usually pale. Blue-tongued lizards are popular as pets and can live for up to 30 years in captivity. They give birth to live young, between six and a record 20 per litter. The young consume the egg sac immediately after birth. They resemble the adult form closely. There are several other types of blue-tongued lizard, genus Tiliqua, such as the northern blue-tongued skink and the shingleback or stump-tailed skink.

This subspecies was first described as Lacerta scincoides, by the Irish surgeon and botanist John White, in Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales, 1790.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Tiliqua scincoides at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
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