580 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



by If. Savilli.Ktnt, F.Z.S.] 



BLUE-TONGUED LIZARDS 



A female ivith her family of twelve 



salmon-pink. The tongue of 

 this lizard, which gives to it 

 its popular title, is somewhat 

 remarkable. It is large and 

 flat, and of a bright blue tint, 

 resembling nothing so much 

 as a piece of blue flannel. 

 The animal, as it moves about, 

 is in the habit of constantly 

 protruding and retracting its 

 tongue, which consequently 

 constitutes a very conspicuous 

 object. In common with the 

 majority of its allies, the blue- 

 tongued lizard is viviparous; 

 but while the stump-tail only 

 produces one at a time, which 

 is nearly half as large as the 

 parent, the present form gives 

 birth to as many as ten or 



twelve. An example in the writer's possession on one occasion presented him with a litter 



embracing the larger number, and afforded the material for the photograph here reproduced. 

 As a contrast to the two preceding forms, the SPINE-TAILED LiZARDS, with their short, flat, 



spiky tails, may be cited as a conclusion to this notice of the Skink Family. There are 



nine known members of the same genus, all inhabitants of Australia. The lower of the two 



forms here figured is especially abundant on one island of the Abrolhos group, off the 



Western Australian coast. This example is represented at about two-thirds of its natural 



size. It is an interesting fact that an allied but considerably larger species monopolises 



a neighbouring island of the same group, the two species not intermingling: probably 



the larger one would prey on the smaller. The largest member of the genus, known 



as CUNNINGHAM'S SPINE-TAIL, of a uniform black hue, peppered white, is not infrequently 



brought to Europe, and two example^ which were for some years in the writer's possession bred 



regularly, producing eight 



or ten young at a time 



for several consecutive years. 



The fact that these lizards 



enjoyed full liberty in a 



heated greenhouse, with a 



temperature and surrounding 



conditions closely identical 



with those to which they 



were naturally accustomed, no 



doubt contributed extensively 



to their fertility. 



With this group we are 



compelled by lack of space 



to close our account of the 



true lizards, but the reader 



must understand that only a 



very few out of an enormous 



number have been mentioned 



at all. 



Ph,t, h If. Savillt-Ktnt, F.Z.S.] [Milf=rd-,n.Sta 



SPINE-TAILED LIZARDS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA 



These lizards are essentially -vegetarian in thetr habits 



