Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard

Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard
Immature
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)

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. They are known as blue-tongues because their tongue ranges from bright to dark blue, and they have a habit of displaying it prominently and hissing loudly when disturbed.

Adult, colour variation, Lakes Entrance, Victoria (Australia)

The Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard is a stout and slow lizard that grows up to 30–60 cm in length, 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 to a record twenty 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 John White, in Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales, 1790.

External links

• BlueTongueSkinks.net
• Blue-tongued Skink, Honolulu Zoo
• Blue-tongued Skinks, Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection
• Tiliqua scincoides , James Cook University