Shingle_back

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
Synonyms
Trachydosaurus rugosus

The Stump-tailed skink or shingleback skink (Tiliqua rugosa, formerly known as Trachydosaurus rugosus) is a large lizard (30-35 cm) found in the drier parts of Australia. It is a kind of blue-tongued lizard. It has a heavily armored body and can be found in various colors ranging from dark brown to cream. This rather slow moving skink is also known as the shingleback, stumpy tail, bobtail, pine-cone lizard, 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 is drawn upon during hibernation in winter.

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 yearsC. 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. . The female produces live young, one or two at a time. The young emerge and eat their afterbirth immediately.

Four subspecies have been described:

• T. r. rugosa Common Shingleback
• T. r. asper Eastern Shingleback
• T. r. konowi Rottnest Island Shingleback
• T. r. palarra Shark Bay Shingleback

References

• Animal, Smithsonian Institution, 2005, pg. 416

External links

• Trachydosaurus

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia