Eastern blue-tongued lizard

The eastern blue-tongued lizard (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides) is a subspecies of large skink which is common throughout eastern Australia, often found in bushland and suburban areas where conditions are suitable. The lizard is known as blue-tongue because its tongue can range from bright to dark blue, and it has a habit of displaying it prominently and hissing loudly when disturbed.

Eastern blue-tongued skink
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Scincidae
Genus:	Tiliqua
Species:	T. scincoides
Subspecies:	T. s. scincoides
Trinomial name
Tiliqua scincoides scincoides (White, 1790)[1]

Eastern blue-tongued skink in the Leipzig Zoological Garden, Leipzig, Germany

The eastern blue-tongued skink is a stout and slow lizard with brown to grey scales and a barred pattern across the body and tail. The underside is usually pale. Blue-tongued lizards are popular as pets and can live up to 30 years in captivity. They give birth to live young, between six and a record 20 per litter. The young consume the egg sac immediately after birth. They resemble the adult form closely. Several other types of blue-tongued lizard are in the genus Tiliqua, such as the northern blue-tongued skink and the shingleback or stump-tailed skink.

This subspecies was first described as Lacerta scincoides, by the Irish surgeon and botanist John White.