shingleback boffins

[snohara]

Hey folks,

I've just come from looking at a pair of Western Australian Shingle Backs that are for sale. One had the orange colourings associated with the Goldfields type, while the other was more black and creamy white.

After seeing this, I realised I have no idea if the Gold Fields form just relates to a specific colour variation associated with individuals from a certain area or is it a separate sub-species?

This leads to further questions, being if not a separate sub-species, would there be any concerns about breeding these two together, assuming that they are both the western australian sub-species, even thought one has the gold fields markings?

and thirdly (the inevitably gross question), what would people expect to pay for the pair of lizards that I have described above (I wanna know if I buy that pair, if I'm being ripped off!)?

All help and comments greatly appreciated.

Scott.

 

[Red-Ink]

Goldfileds ralate to a particular locale the animals are endemic from... yes the orange stumpies are typically what are known as the "Goldfields" locale as orange specimens are endemic to the area.

There are four sub-species of shinglebacks.

Tiliqua rugosa rugosa
Tiliqua rugosa aspera
Tiliqua rugosa palarra
Tiliqua rugosa konowi

All shingle backs from the goldfields area are Tiliqua rugosa rugosa. There are variations of individuals even in the same endemic area, as the individuals are being sold to you as both Goldfields specimens, there is no concerns about breeding them (provided they are an "actual" pair)

 

[snohara]

That's great info. Thanks Red-Ink. I think, as I've noticed a few others re: different species have, that I've gone and got confused between that mash made up of common names, scientific names, sub-species and then even more common names for various colour traits. If the stupid sign just said "two different looking T. rugosa rugosa" I would've felt better!

 

[Echiopsis]

That's great info. Thanks Red-Ink. I think, as I've noticed a few others re: different species have, that I've gone and got confused between that mash made up of common names, scientific names, sub-species and then even more common names for various colour traits. If the stupid sign just said "two different looking T. rugosa rugosa" I would've felt better!

Orange headed animals are common as mud around Perth, depends how orange and how much of the animal is that colour I guess. The animals Ive seen in the Goldfields vary quite a bit with some showing a lot of red/gold/orange strongly and others not.

Got any pics?

 

[snohara]

I didn't grab any pics I'm afraid. But since doing a bunch more investigating, I've realised that Goldfields relates to individuals from a specific region that have a whole tonne of orange, not just the odd orange scale here and there.

Given that I grew up looking for shinglebacks in SA, T. rugosa rugosa looks very exotic to me, compared to what I consider the common eastern form. Given this, I'm glad that I hopefully shouldn't have to pay Goldfields prices to find a pair that have some orange on them. I was under the impression due to poor research on my behalf that any individual with any orange/red/gold on them was considered "Goldfields", but I'm fast learning. Now to just find the perfect pair!!