The shingleback lizard is a fascinating skink with a bright blue tongue and a unique stubby tail. Not only are they one of Australia’s largest skinks, but they are also one of the world’s only monogamous reptiles. Keep reading to learn more about this unique skink with many names.
If you want to learn about even more awesome reptiles that can be found in Australia check out our Australian reptile article!
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Quick Facts
Scientific Name: Tiliqua rugosa
Common Names: Shingleback Lizard, Bobtail Lizard, Stumpy-tailed Lizard, Boggi,
Sleepy Lizard, Two-headed Lizard, Pinecone Lizard
Geographic Range: Australia (Western Australia, Victoria, South Australia,
Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory)
Life Span: 15 – 20+ Years
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Top 10 List – Shingleback Lizard
1. Shingleback Lizards Inhabit Semiarid Plains and Woodlands
Shrublands, eucalyptus forests, desert grasslands, and sandy dunes are all places that shingleback’s like to call home. They tend to inhabit areas that have a harsh dry summer and fall, followed by a cool winter and spring that brings water and vegetation for the skinks to eat. When looking for shelter they like to use grasses, leaf litter, rocks, and logs that can be found throughout their habitat.
2. They Are Among The Largest Of The Australian Skinks
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Shingleback lizards are among the largest of the Australian skinks. They have a SVL (snout to vent, or “butt”, length) of 40.6 – 45.7 cm (16 – 18 inches), and can weigh anywhere from 600 – 900 grams. Their heads are triangular and wedge-shaped, with their tongue being large, flat, and bright cobalt blue. Their legs are short and stubby compared to their bodies. With their unique short blunt tail that stores fat and resembles their head, it’s no surprise one of their common names is the two-headed lizard. However, they cannot drop their tails and regrow them like other lizards are able to. Scales of the shingleback are often large and have a rough knobby appearance, and almost resemble a pinecone, hence the common name pinecone lizard. Their coloring can depend on subspecies and just the skink in general, but range from various brown, red-browns, greys, and blacks, with various blotches.
3. They Are Opportunistic Feeders
Shingleback skinks are omnivores, eating both plants and animal matter. Their main diet consists of vegetables and plants like herbs and seedlings, as well as any fruit or flowers they may come across. The rest of their diet is made up of insects, other arthropods, snails, and carrion. As they are opportunistic feeders, they are not overly picky and will munch on almost anything edible they come across. Their tail also stores extra fat to help them survive during periodic droughts and times with little food available.
4. Shingleback Lizards Have an Organ In Their Mouth That Helps Them Smell and Taste Information
Shingleback lizards are diurnal lizards that are generally non-aggressive towards each other, especially when they know each other. However, unfamiliar males may occasionally attack each other. Usually, they do not travel far, but if they do they will most likely return to their home range. Their home range is around 200 meters in diameter, and the home range of different shingleback skinks can overlap each other. In the morning of warm days, they start spending their time basking and warming themselves up, and they then look for food, bask more, and finally will look for shelter for the night as the temperature falls towards the end of the day. If the temperature is cold they tend to just stay in their shelters.
Shingleback skinks have a Jacobson’s organ in the roof of their mouth that helps them process the world around them. They will stick their tongue out to pick up scent particles in the air or from the surface of objects. Then, they bring the particles back to their mouth/Jacobson’s organ, which the organ will then help them process this information and help them find mates, food, or predators.
5. There Are 4 Different Recognized Subspecies
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Photo Source
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There are 4 recognized subspecies of shingleback skinks, which are as follows:
1. Tiliqua rugosa asper – Eastern Shingleback – Eastern Australia
2. Tiliqua rugosa konowi – Rottnest Island bobtail or Rottnest Island shingleback – Rottnest Island, Western Australia
3. Tiliqua rugosa palarra – Northern bobtail or Shark Bay shingleback – Shark Bay, Western Australia
4. Tiliqua rugosa rugosa – Bobtail or Western Shingleback – Western Australia
6. Their Unique Blue Tongue Is Part of Their Defense Mechanism
While shingleback lizards are considered the least concern for risk of extinction, these skinks still have quite a few predators and threats. Natural predators include dingos, large snakes, local peoples, birds of prey, and various ticks and nematodes. For introduced species, foxes, feral cats, and feral dogs also pose a risk of preying upon these lizards. One of the main threats and causes of death to the shingleback is the risk of them getting hit and killed by cars when crossing the road as well as venturing onto the road to eat carrion that has also been hit by cars.
When threatened they usually try to put on a huge display and bluff their way out of the encounter. They will widely gape their huge mouth, puff up, and stick out their cobalt blue tongue will violently hissing. Since blue is considered usually dangerous or poisonous in the animal world, their bright blue tongue discourages predators from trying to eat them, even though they are actually not poisonous. If a predator gets too close to them after this huge display they will attempt to bite, and since they have fairly sharp teeth and a strong jaw – the bite can be quite painful!
7. Female Shinglebacks Birth Live Young Instead of Laying Eggs
Breeding season for the shingleback lizard is usually around September to November. The mother skink is usually “pregnant” between 3 – 5 months, and will give birth to 1 to 3 babies from December to April. An interesting thing about these skinks is that they give birth to live young instead of laying eggs as many reptiles do.
Baby skinks are born at a weight usually between 60 – 200 grams and are around 22cm (8.7 inches) in length. Compared to the mother, they can be almost 1/3 the size of their mother at birth, which is why the number of babies born at a time is small. Imagine the mother trying to grow even more than 3 of those monster babies in her at a time! It’s thought that they are so large at birth to help them escape predation, as well as be able to survive the lack of food and water that can happen during the summer. Baby shingleback lizards can hang around their parents anywhere from days to months until they are ready to venture out on their own.
8. They Are One of The Only Monogamous Reptiles
Monogamy in the animal world is rare and even rarer in the reptile world! Shingleback lizards will pick their mate, and then during the breeding season, will obviously have babies with them. After breeding, the pair will usually separate for 10 months until next year’s breeding season, in which they will find each other and pair up again. When they are together they are usually spotted laying near each other, and walking together, the male slightly following behind the female skink. They can stay together for years, with some pairs being observed coming back to each other for over 10 years. If one of the skinks in the pair dies, the remaining partner has occasionally been observed grieving for their dead partner. Poor skinks.
9. They Are Popular Pets Among Australians
As they come from Australia, they are popular pets for Australian reptile enthusiasts, although a permit may be required to keep them in some states. As they are native to Australia they can be kept in both indoor and outdoor enclosures, and as long as their enclosure is kept dry they are easy to both feed and maintain. Since the exportation of shingleback skinks is currently banned by Australia, they are not nearly as popular or available in the rest of the world. There are only a few pairs in the pet trade that produce captive young for private reptile collections, however, these babies are quite expensive as well as extremely rare.
10. Shinglebacks Are A Lizard With Many Names
The shingleback lizard is a lizard of many names, with different names being favored by different locations. We listed most of the common names above, as well as most of the names using lizard and skink interchangeably. Some herpetologists think that the shingleback possibly has more common names than most if not all other lizards.
In 1825 John Edward Gray first described the shingleback skink as Trachydosaurus rugosus, however, it is now more commonly known as Tiliqua rugosa. Some still believe that the shingleback should belong to their own genus, Trachydosaurus for a few reasons. While the molecular chemical composition suggests that shingleback lizards are identical to the Tiliqua genus, they have many scales and body differences that are very distinguishing. These include differences in their tails, toes, and absence of ear lobules.
11. They Are Occasionally Mistaken For Blotched Blue-Tongue Skinks
Photo By Dreamtime Nature Photography
Photo by Mononymous
Shingleback lizards (Tiliqua rugosa) can sometimes be confused for the closely related blotched blue-tongue skink (Tiliqua nigrolutea). They have quite a few similarities including that they are both found in Australia, are both skinks, around the same size, and are part of the genus Tiliqua. Two easy ways to tell them apart are that the shingleback lizard has a short stumpy tail instead of the more slender tail seen on the blotched blue-tongue skink, as well as the shingleback’s scales are more knobby and keeled in appearance.
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