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COMMON NAME:
Stumpy tail lizard, Bobtail, Pinecone lizard and Sleepy Lizard
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Trachydosauras rougosus
FAMILY: Scinidae
GENUS: Tiliqua
STATUS: Secure
SIZE (mm): 350
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DESCRIPTION: The feature that defines the shingleback
is its tail. Short, broad, and triangular, it closely mimics the lizard's
head, down to the pair of recessed scales resembling the eyes at the
other end. Even at close quarters, it takes some attention to see which
end of a shingleback is which. Like most mimicry, this is a form of
defence - if attacked by a predator, the shingleback stands a fifty-fifty
chance of being set upon at the expendable end. So-called self mimicry
is commonplace in the animal kingdom, encompassing such tactics as eye-spots
on a butterfly's wings: the shingleback's rather extreme brand of literal
self-mimicry is rare and remarkable, found in just a handful of species
worldwide.
PREFERRED HABITAT: Shinglebacks can be found in
all the drier parts of Australia's temperate south - west of the Great
Dividing Range and along the coasts of South and Western Australia
to nearly as far north as the Pilbara. A drive in the backblocks of
these regions on a cool day will commonly turn up a shingleback sunning
itself on the road (or, more likely, a flat ex-shingleback). Heavy
and slow-moving, shinglebacks like to skulk in forest litter, logs,
and rock niches, feeding on berries, succulents, flowers, and the
odd snail or insect. Unusually for reptiles, they form lifelong monogamous
mating pairs, the product of which is between one and four live young
every spring.
MICROHABITAT: A diurnal, ground dwelling lizard,
it thrives on a varied diet of vegetable matter and meat scraps, and
are helpfully choosy about what's best for them, making overfeeding
difficult.
AVAILABILITY: Click
here to view current reptiles we have in stock!
