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Tiliqua scincoides (WHITE, 1790)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Egerniinae (Tiliquini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesTiliqua scincoides scincoides (WHITE 1790)
Tiliqua scincoides intermedia MITCHELL 1955
Tiliqua scincoides chimaerea SHEA 2000 
Common NamesE: Common Bluetongue, Eastern Bluetongue, Northern Bluetongue, Eastern Blue-Tongued Lizard 
SynonymLacerta scincoides WHITE 1790: 242
Lacerta scincoides — SHAW & NODDER 1794: plate 179
Scincus crotaphomelas LACÉPÈDE 1804: 209
Scincus tuberculatus MERREM 1820: 73
Tiliqua tuberculatus — GRAY 1825: 201
Tiliqua whitii GRAY 1831: 67 (non Scincus whitii LACÉPÈDE 1804)
Cyclodus boddaertii DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 752 (part.)
Tiliqua scincoides — ANDERSON 1916: 12
Tiliqua scincoides — SMITH 1937: 233
Tiliqua scincoides intermedia MITCHELL 1955
Tiliqua scincoides — COGGER 1983: 191
Tiliqua scincoides — COGGER 2000: 580
Tiliqua scincoides scincoides — NOËL 2009

Tiliqua scincoides intermedia MITCHELL 1955: 393
Tiliqua scincoides intermedia — GLAUERT 1960: 68
Tiliqua scincoides intermedia — BELL 2005
Tiliqua scincoides intermedia — REISINGER 2014

Tiliqua scincoides chimaerea SHEA 2000
Tiliqua scincoides chimaerea — KUPERUS & ZWARTEPOORTE 2007 
DistributionAustralia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, SE South Australia, Victoria, NW Western Australia)

scincoides: S/E Australia

intermedia: N Australia

chimaerea: Indonesia (Maluku Province: Tanimbar, Babar Islands); Type locality: Samlaki, Tanimbar Islands.

Type locality: Australia [Lacerta scincoides, Scincus tuberculatus]  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesSyntypes: BMNH 1946.8.21.94, second syntype presumed lost.
Syntypes: MNHP 3025, for extralimital syntype, Java) see Guibé (1954) [Cyclodus boddaertii].
Holotype: SAMA R3095, from Yirrkala (as Yirrkalla), N. T. [intermedia]
Holotype: RMNH 5198a (the only one of five specimens under that number with a complete tail), paratypes: RMNH.RENA.7229 [chimaerea] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (30 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy after COGGER 1983. Merrem's original description is ambiguous in that the name tuberculatus could be interpreted as a substitute name for Lacerta scincoides White, 1790 (fide COGGER 1983).

Distribution: see Shea 2000: 158 for maps of all 3 subspecies.

Type species: Lacerta scincoides WHITE 1790: 242 (SHAW 1790 fide SHEA 1990: 509) is the type species of the genus Tiliqua GRAY 1825: 201.

Morphology: Greer 1986 investigated the relative length of the anterior medial groove of the frontal bone in species of Egernia and Tiliqua as as a diagnostic character for being a member of Lygosominae vs. Scincinae. 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin Scincus (a north African skink, one of the first to be given a binomial name) plus the suffix -oides (similarity). This was one of the first skink species to be described, at a time when most skinks were compared to Linnaeus' Lacerta scincus. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
  • Andersson, L.G. 1916. Notes on the reptiles and batrachians in the Zoological Museum at Gothenburg with an account of some new species. Göteborgs Kungliga Vetenskap och Vitter Hets-Samnalles Hndlingar Sjatte Foljden (Series B, 4) 17 (5) [ = Meddelanden fran Göteborgs Musei Zoologiska Afdelning, No. 9]: 1-41
  • Bartholomew, G.A., V.A. Tucker & A.K. Lee 1965. Oxygen Consumption, Thermal Conductance, and Heart Rate in the Australian Skink Tiliqua scincoides Copeia 1965 (2): 169-173. - get paper here
  • Bauer, A.M. 1999. Notes on John White's Journal of a Voyage to new South Wales (1790), a Classic of Australian Herpetology. International Society for the History and Bibliography of Herpetology 1 (1): 16-19 - get paper here
  • Bell, J.A. 2005. Tiliqua scincoides intermedia. Reptilia (GB) (41): 27-31 - get paper here
  • Blackburn, D.G. 1993. STANDARDIZED CRITERIA FOR THE RECOGNITION OF REPRODUCTIVE MODES IN SQUAMATE REPTILES. Herpetologica 49 (1): 118-132 - get paper here
  • Bonetti, Mathilde 2002. 100 Sauri. Mondadori (Milano), 192 pp. - get paper here
  • Brauer, P. 1980. Tiliqua scincoides - HALTUNG UND ZUCHT DES BLAUZUNGENSKINKS. Sauria 2 (2): 5-12 - get paper here
  • Breeden, Stanley 1988. The first Australians. National Geographic 173(2): 266-289
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  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Cooper, W.E., Jr. 2000. Food Chemical Discriminations by the Omnivorous Scincid Lizards Tiliqua scincoides and Tiliqua rugosa Herpetologica 56 (4): 480-488. - get paper here
  • Couper, P., Covacevich, J., Amey, A. & Baker, A. 2006. The genera of skinks (Family Scincidae) of Australia and its island territories: diversity, distribution and identification. in: Merrick, J.R., Archer, M., Hickey, G.M. & Lee, M.S.Y. (eds.). Evolution and Zoogeography of Australasian Vertebrates. Australian Scientific Publishing, Sydney, pp. 367-384
  • Drane, C.R. & G.J.W. Webb 1980. Functional Morphology of the Dermal Vascular System of the Australian Lizard Tiliqua scincoides Herpetologica 36 (1): 60-66. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1839. Erpétologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol. 5. Roret/Fain et Thunot, Paris, 871 pp. - get paper here
  • Estes, Richard and Ernest E. Williams 1984. Ontogenetic Variation in the Molariform Teeth of Lizards. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 4 (1): 96-107 - get paper here
  • Farquhar, Jules Edward 2021. Melanism in the eastern blue-tongued lizard Tiliqua scincoides (Squamata: Scincidae) from south-eastern Australia. Herpetology Notes 14: 251-255
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  • Frynta, D., Gunalen, D., & Somerová, B. 2021. Genetic variation of blue-tongue skinks of the genus Tiliqua (Squamata: Scincidae) from New Guinea and Wallacea. Biologia, 1-11 - get paper here
  • Glauert, L. 1960. Herpetological miscellanea. XII. The family Scincidae in Western Australia. Pt. 1. The genera Tiliqua, Trachysaurus and Egernia. Western Australian Naturalist 7 (3): 67-77 - get paper here
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  • Gray, J. E. 1831. A synopsis of the species of Class Reptilia. In: Griffith, E & E. Pidgeon: The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organisation by the Baron Cuvier with additional descriptions of all the species hither named, and of many before noticed [V Whittaker, Treacher and Co., London: 481 + 110 pp. [1830] - get paper here
  • 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 - get paper here
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  • Greer, A. E. 1986. Lygosomine (Scincidae) monophyly: a third, corroborating character and a reply to critics. Journal of Herpetology 20 (1): 123-126 - get paper here
  • Guibé, J. 1954. Catalogue des Types de Lézards du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Naturelle. Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 119 pp.
  • Hancock, Linda Joanne; Thompson, Michael B 1997. Distributional limits of eastern blue-tongue lizards Tiliqua scincoides, blotched blue-tongue lizards T. nigrolutea and shingleback lizards T. rugosa (Gray) in New South Wales. Australian Zoologist 30 (3): 340-345 - get paper here
  • Hanley, K. & Hanley, S. 2003. Tiliqua scincoides, Common Blue-Tongued Skink. Reptilia (GB) (29): 39-42 - get paper here
  • Hitz,R. 2001. Neuigkeiten in der Gattung Tiliqua (Echte Blauzungenskinke). Elaphe 9 (2): 61-64
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  • Kay, G.M.; D. Michael; M. Crane; S. Okada; C. MacGregor; D. Florance; D. Trengove; L. McBurney; D. Blair; D.B. Lindenmayer. 2013. A list of reptiles and amphibians from Box Gum Grassy Woodlands in south-eastern Australia. Check List 9 (3):476-481 - get paper here
  • Koenig, J., R. Shine & G. Shea 2002. The Dangers of Life in the City: Patterns of Activity, Injury and Mortality in Suburban Lizards (Tiliqua scincoides) Journal of Herpetology 36 (1): 62-68. - get paper here
  • Kuperus, S. & Zwartepoorte, H.A. 2007. Ervaringen met het houden en kweken van de Tanimbar-Blauwtongskink Tiliqua scincoides chimaerea. Lacerta 65 (2): 48-58 - get paper here
  • LaCépède, B. G. E. L. 1804. Mémoire sur plusieurs animaux de la Nouvelle- Hollande dont la description n’a pas encore été publiée. Annales du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 4:184-211 - get paper here
  • Lucas, A. H. S. & Frost, C. 1894. The lizards indigenous to Victoria. Proc. R. Soc. Vict. (ns) 6: 24-92 - get paper here
  • Merrem, B. 1820. Versuch eines Systems der Amphibien I (Tentamen Systematis Amphibiorum). J. C. Kriegeri, Marburg, 191 pp. - get paper here
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  • Mitchell, F. J. 1950. The scincid genera Egernia and Tiliqua (Lacertilia). Rec. South Austral. Mus. 9: 275-308 - get paper here
  • Mo, Matthew 2015. Herpetofaunal community of the constructed Lime Kiln Bay Wetland, south Sydney, New South Wales. Victorian Naturalist 132 (3): 64-72 - get paper here
  • Mo, Matthew 2020. Two instances of tail regeneration and one case of tail bifurcation in adult Eastern Blue-tongued Lizards (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides) in Australia. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 27 (3): 485-486 - get paper here
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  • Peracca, M.G. 1895. SuI fatto di due distinte dentizioni nella Tiliqua scincoides White. Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia comparata della R. Universita di Torino, 10 (217): 1-3 - get paper here
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  • Reisinger, M. 2014. Farbzucht beim Nördlichen Blauzungenskink, Tiliqua scincoides intermedia. Reptilia (Münster) 19 (109): 54-62
  • Shaw, George & Nodder, Frederick P. (Eds.) 1794. The Naturalist's Miscellany [...], Vol. V. London, Nodder & Co., plates 147-182, 158 unnumbered pages [published in monthly issues between between August 1, 1793, and July 1, 1794] - get paper here
  • Shea, G. M. 1993. The anatomist John Hunter (1728-1793), the Eastern Bluetongue Skink Tiliqua scincoides (Squamata: Scincidae) and the discovery of herbivory in skinks. Archives of Natural History 20 (3): 303 - get paper here
  • Shea, G.M. 2000. Der Sunda-Blauzungenskink Tiliqua scincoides chimaerea subsp. nov. – in: HAUSCHILD, A., R. HITZ, K. HENLE, G.M. SHEA & H. WERNING (Hrsg.): Blauzungenskinke. Beiträge zu Tiliqua und Cyclodomorphus; pp. 157-160. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 287 pp. - get paper here
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  • White, J. 1790. Journal of a voyage to new South Wales, with sixty-five plates of non descript animals, birds, lizards, serpents, curious cones of trees and other natural productions. Debrett, London, 229 pp. - get paper here
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