I2 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



nl. F.Z.S.] 



BLUE-TONGUED LIZARDS 



A female wtik her family of rwclvc 



salmon-pink. '1 he tongue of 

 tills lizard, which gives to it 

 its popular title, is somewhat 

 remarkable. It is large ;m<l 

 flat, and of a bright blue tint, 

 n-M-mbling nothing so much 

 as a piece of blue llannel. 

 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 SlMNK-TAll.Kl) LI/ARDS, with their short, tlat, 

 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 examples 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, hut the reader 

 must understand that only a 



very few out of an enormous ,*.,.,,.., ^ ^ 



number have been mentioned SPINE-TA! u i> II/\RDS, WKSTKRN AUSTRALIA 



*' a "' Thru lltj'Ji jri eitenltil.'tf vr^ujr.dn in tkt'r 



