 |
COMMON NAME: Pink-tongued
Skink
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cyclodomorphus gerrardii
FAMILY: Scincidae
GENUS: Cyclodomorphus
STATUS: Secure
SIZE (cm): 20 |
DESCRIPTION: Large Cyclodomorphus with long strongly-clawed
digits and long prehensile tail. Head large and moderately distinct
from neck. Tongue pink on adults and blue on juveniles; blue pigment
is retained almost to adulthood in far north of range. Ground colour
pale brown, pinkish-brown, shades of grey to black. Pattern prominent
to virtually absent, consisting of 5-7 broad blackish bands (each curving
forward laterally) between nape and hips, and approximately 12 on tail.
Dark mark usually present beneath eye. Bands may become progressively
invaded by ground colour; reduced to margins forming pairs of narrow
bands, or lost entirely. Patternless individuals usually retain dark
tip to snout, and occasionally a few scattered dark flecks. All juveniles
are prominently marked with sharp-edged dark and pale bands. Ventral
surfaces white to dark pinkish-brown, with or without darker marbling
or broad bands. SVL 200mm.
PREFERRED HABITAT: Humid east coast and ranges,
from Springwood, NSW, north to Cairns district, Qld. Favours wet sclerophyll
forests and rainforests, extending into woodlands wherever damp conditions
prevail. A common lizard in well-watered gardens of suburban Brisbane.
MICROHABITAT: Shelters in hollow logs, beneath leaf-litter,
and in crevices in trunks or rocks.
AVAILABILITY: Click
here to view current reptiles we have in stock!
