Tiliqua rugosa

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Stump-tailed skink

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Tiliqua
Species: T. rugosa
Binomial name
Tiliqua rugosa
Gray, 1825[1]
Synonyms

Trachydosaurus rugosus

Tiliqua rugosa is a short tailed and slow moving blue-tongued skink found in the drier regions of Australia. It is commonly seen sunning itself on roadsides, and has a heavily armored body and can be found in various colors ranging from dark brown to cream.

Variously named as a Stump-tailed, bobtail or shingleback skink, it is also called the stumpy tail, bobtail, pine-cone, bog-eye or sleepy lizard. It has a short but wide stumpy tail that resembles another head, and may confuse predators. The tail also contains fat reserves, which are drawn upon during hibernation in winter. They are omnivores that eat snails and vegetation, and so spend much of their time browsing through plants for food.

A group of shinglebacks at the Honolulu Zoo.
A group of shinglebacks at the Honolulu Zoo.

Male and female shinglebacks stay together for about eight weeks during the breeding season, then separate. They often reunite the following year, and such pairs have been known to return to each other every year for up to 20 years[2]. The female produces live young, one or two at a time. The young emerge and eat their afterbirth immediately. The male of a monogamous pair eats less while parenting, remaining alert and ready to give an alarm. The species was once preyed upon by dingos, Australian pythons such as Morelia spilota, and local peoples; a threat is now more likely to come from large introduced species such as foxes and cats. [3]

The species was formerly known as Trachydosaurus rugosus. Four subspecies have been described[4]:

  • Tiliqua rugosa rugosa
Common Shingleback - Western Australia
  • Tiliqua rugosa asper[5]
Eastern Shingleback - Eastern states of Australia
  • Tiliqua rugosa konowi[6]
Rottnest Island Shingleback - Rottnest Island
  • Tiliqua rugosa palarra[7]
Shark Bay Shingleback - Shark Bay, Western Australia

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gray, J.E. 1825. A synopsis of the genera of reptiles and Amphibia, with a description of some new species. Annals of Philosophy, 10:193—217
  2. ^ C. Michael Bull, Steven J. B. Cooper, Ben C. Baghurst (1998). "Social monogamy and extra-pair fertilization in an Australian lizard, Tiliqua rugosa". J. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 44 (1). Springer Berlin / Heidelberg. 
  3. ^ C. M. Bull , and Y. Pamula (1998). "Enhanced vigilance in monogamous pairs of the lizard, Tiliqua rugosa" (PDF). Behavioural Ecology 9 (5): Pp. 452-455. Oxford University Press. ISSN 1465-7279. 
  4. ^ Tiliqua rugosa at the TIGR Reptile Database
  5. ^ Gray, J. E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman, London: xxvii + 289 pp.
  6. ^ Mertens, R. 1958. Neue Eidechsen aus Australien. Senckenbergiana Biologica, 39:51-56.
  7. ^ Shea, G.M. 2000. Die Shark-Bay-Tannenzapfenechse Tiliqua rugosa palarra subsp. nov. – in: HAUSCHILD, A., R. HITZ, K. HENLE, G.M. SHEA & H. WERNING (Hrsg.): Blauzungenskinke. Beiträge zu Tiliqua und Cyclodomorphus, pp. 108-112. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 287 pp.
  • Animal, Smithsonian Institution, 2005, pg. 416

[edit] External links

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