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Tiliqua rugosa (GRAY, 1825)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Egerniinae (Tiliquini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesTiliqua rugosa aspera GRAY 1845
Tiliqua rugosa konowi MERTENS 1958
Tiliqua rugosa rugosa GRAY 1825
Tiliqua rugosa palarra SHEA 2000 
Common NamesE: Shingleback Lizard, Shingle-Back, Stumpy Tail Lizard, Pinecone lizard, Sleepy Lizard
G: Tannenzapfenechse 
SynonymTrachydosaurus rugosus GRAY 1825: 201
Scincus peronii WAGLER 1830: 163 (nomen nudum)
Trachysaurus peronii WAGLER 1833 (nom. nov. pro Trachydosaurus rugosus)
Brachydactylus typicus SMITH 1834
Scincus pachyurus GRAY 1839: 288 (nomen nudum)
Tachydosaurus rugosus — GRAY 1839: 288 (in error)
Trachysaurus rugosus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 754
Trachydisaurus [sic] rugosus — KREFFT 1873: 315
Trachysaurus rugosus — LUCAS & FROST 1894: 61
Trachysaurus rugosus — GLAUERT 1960: 71
Tiliqua rugosa — SHEA 1990
Tiliqua rugosa — FRANK & RAMUS 1995
Trachydosaurus rugosus — COGGER 2000: 583
Tiliqua rugosa — BONETTI 2002: 162

Tiliqua rugosa aspera GRAY 1845
Trachydosaurus asper GRAY 1845: 103
Trachydosaurus asper — HAACKE 1885: 435
Tiliqua rugosa aspera — SHEA 2000: 110
Tiliqua rugosa aspera — WILSON & SWAN 2013: 370

Tiliqua rugosa konowi MERTENS 1958
Tiliqua rugosa konowi — STORR et al. 1999
Tiliqua rugosa konowi — SHEA 2000: 110

Tiliqua rugosa palarra SHEA 2000
Tiliqua rugosa palarra SHEA 2000: 108
Tiliqua rugosa palarra — WILSON & SWAN 2013: 370 
DistributionAustralia (S Western Australia, S South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales except coastal areas, S/C Queensland)

asper: E Australia; Type locality: Adelaide, S. A.

rugosa: W Australia; Type locality: no locality specified in original description; (King George's Sound, W. A., collected Captain P.P. King, fide Gray 1826).

konowi: Rottnest Island, Western Australia; Type locality: Rottnest Island, Western Australia

palarra: Western Australia, Shark Bay area; Type locality: amala Station rubbish tip, Western Australia.  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.8.5.1, no locality specified in original description; (King George's Sound, W. A. fide Gray 1826).
Holotype: BMNH stuffed, unnumbered, from Swan River, W. A. [Brachydactylus typicus].
Syntypes: BMNH xv.81. a-b, BMNH 42.6.29.58-59 (formerly xv.81c-d), from Adelaide, S. A. [asper]
Holotype: WAM 12721, from Rottnest Is., W. A. [konowi]
Holotype: WAM R167700 (was AMS R 133199); paratypes: AM, SAM, WAM, RMNH [palarra] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (29 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy partly after COGGER 1983 who listed asper and konowi as synonyms of T. rugosa.

Behavior: This is one of the few reptile species in which monogamy has been observed (Chapple 2003).

Distribution: see map in Shea 2000 (includes all 4 subspecies). 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin rugosus (rough) in reference to the enlarged roughened dorsal scales. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
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  • Bull, C.M., M. Doherty, L.R. Schulze & Y. Pamula 1994. Recognition of Offspring by Females of the Australian Skink, Tiliqua rugosa Journal of Herpetology 28 (1): 117-120. - get paper here
  • Bull, C.M., Y. Pamula & L. Schulze 1993. Parturition in the Sleepy Lizard, Tiliqua rugosa Journal of Herpetology 27 (4): 489-492. - get paper here
  • CHIACCHIO, MICHELE; ANNEGRET GRIMM-SEYFARTH<br>KLAUS HENLE<br> AND JEAN-BAPTISTE MIHOUB 2020. Water availability as a major climatic driver of taxonomic and functional diversity in a desert reptile community. Ecosphere 11(7):e03190. 10.1002/ecs2.3190 - get paper here
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  • Kerr, G.D., C.M. Bull & D. Mackay 2004. Human Disturbance and Stride Frequency in the Sleepy Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa): Implications for Behavioral Studies Journal of Herpetology 38 (4): 519-526. - get paper here
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  • NORVAL, GERRUT; ROBERT D. SHARRAD & MICHAEL G. GARDNER. 2021. A mammal tick with a taste for lizard blood: parasitism by the kangaroo soft tick, (Ornithodoros gurneyi) on sleepy lizards (Tiliqua rugosa). Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases 101859. - get paper here
  • Norval, Gerrut; Robert D. Sharrad, and Michael G. Gardner 2019. Two instances in South Australia of Sleepy Lizards, Tiliqua rugosa (Gray 1825), feeding on plant species not previously recorded as part of this lizard’s diet. IRCF 26 (1): 54–55 - get paper here
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