Eastern blue-tongued lizard
Eastern blue-tongued lizard | |
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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] |
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
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiliqua scincoides. |
Wikispecies has information related to: Tiliqua scincoides |
- BlueTongueSkinks.net
- Blue-tongued skinks, Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection
- Tiliqua scincoides , James Cook University