"Tiliqua rugosa" is a short-tailed, slow moving species of blue-tongued skink found in Australia. Three of the four recognised subspecies are found only in Western Australia, where they are known collectively by the common name bobtail. The name shingleback is also used, especially for "T. rugosa asper", the only subspecies native to eastern Australia.
Similar species: Snakes And Lizards
By Ernst
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Uploaded Sep 7, 2020. Captured Sep 7, 2020 11:29 in Heysen Trail, Waitpinga SA 5211, Australia.
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The bobtail skink (Tiliqua rugosa) lives in arid areas of South Australia.
It’s a robust, heavily armored omnivore. And, it has a blue tongue!! It also has a bunch of awesomely descriptive nicknames, such as shingleback, two-headed skink, pinecone lizard, sleepy skink, boggi, and the stump-tailed skink.
They are one of the only reptiles in the world that are monogamous. Long-term relationships have definite benefits for skinks. It means they can coordinate their reproductive cycles, can evade predators more effectively, and it makes foraging for food easier. The less energy they spend on these aspects of daily life, the more energy they will have for mating. They can live 50 years in the wild, so having a consistent and reliable mate saves a lot of time.
Their stumpy tails are not just cute—they stores fat reserves, similar to how a camel stores fat in a hump. It relies on these reserves during brumation (dormancy) in the winter. As an added benefit, their tails look like their heads. So, they kind of look like they are traveling in both directions at once. This is called self-mimicry and it confuses predators long enough for the skink to slink away.
Another obviously cool feature of the bobtail skink is their cobalt blue tongue! When threatened, the skink gapes its mouth wide open, hisses, and sticks out its tongue. Scary? Well, the skink hopes this display is scary enough to freak out any potential predators. If not, then it will bite. It has sharp teeth and a strong jaw, so best not to mess with them. {Spotted in Australia by JungleDragon user, Ernst} #JungleDragon #Bobtailskink #Tiliquarugosa
For more AWEsome Aussie photos from Ernst: https://www.jungledragon.com/user/3125/popular
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