Identify This Lizard!

[Beard]

From my understanding, probably wrong though, not too many animals can see blue in the colour spectrum. If this is the case blue as a defence mechanism would be a little pointless.

 

[maddog-1979]

is it blue from de-oxygenated blood?

 

[Beard]

is it blue from de-oxygenated blood?

If the tongue was only recieving de-oxygenated blood the tissue would die, resulting in a tongueless blue tongue.

There's a project for those that like to alter species for sales purposes.

 

[GeckPhotographer]

is it blue from de-oxygenated blood?

Also if this was true why would tongue colour vary so drastically between species, and even within species?

 

[maddog-1979]

yeah, that's why i asked as a ? blonde moment,lol

 

[Bluetongue1]

That is a rather nice specimen of Pink Tongued Skink, with a colour pattern common to central coast NSW. What is unusual about it is the width of the head and the stockiness of the body. They are normally considerable more slender that than that.

I don’t know why the tongues are blue but I can assure you that it is as a result of genetic control of pigment production. I have seen a number of shingle backs with pink tongues. As for the sunburn scenario, they certainly don't leave it out long enough, unlike giraffes.

Blue

 

[Nighthawk]

Silly people. It's blue as a classic example of why not to suck on a pen; do it too long and your children's children will be affected.

 

[DeadCricket]

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that all the tongues were pink, if you're another lizard. Aparently when the blue tongue displays its tongue, another lizard sees it as extremely pink because they see differently to us

 

[Bluetonguesblack]

I am trying to upload a pic of my other bluey, so excuse me if it dont work. This specimine runs around our house freerange. (works for me)

View attachment 219919

 

[clipo38]

I am trying to upload a pic of my other bluey, so excuse me if it dont work. This specimine runs around our house freerange.

View attachment 219919

did not work

 

[slim6y]

From my understanding, probably wrong though, not too many animals can see blue in the colour spectrum. If this is the case blue as a defence mechanism would be a little pointless.

Red is generally known as the warning colour - maybe bright yellow etc...

Even snake tongues aren't 'red' but more purple (you'll need to excuse my colour blindness here).

Without doing extensive searching.... Sometimes colours are used in mating? Is a blue tongue significant with virility or something of the sort?

Or...

Is it blue just 'because'?

Why do we have a red/pink tongue? We certainly don't use it as a warning (unless you're Maori and doing the Haka).

 

[Nighthawk]

I wondered the same thing last night but, as it was one in the morning by the time I thought of it, didn't quite know how to phrase it. My vocabulary and eloquence diminishes the later (earlier, whatever you prefer...) it gets.
Perhaps the bigger and bluer, the better the bluff, more virile the male? No matter how it's seen by other blueys, if it's used for those purposes than the spectrum argument is debateable.

 

[ianinoz]

Not a bad answer and I don't have a particularly better one, but I might question. Have you ever seen a Lampropholis flare its tongue at you? I think the majority of skinks do not use their tongue as a defense mechanism, that is limited to some of the larger ones, including this pink tongue whos tongue certainly isn't blue.

I saw Scrapper (our resident alpha male EWS) send off with a surprise display of aggression one of the dogs from next door who came sniffing around he while he was taking the sun on the grass not far from my front steps the other day. Very funny to see a little skink who is tiny compared to their dog lunging at the dog with it's mouth open (tongue display --- not sure if the tongue was displayed as Scrapper had his back to me) and it was very effective.
Wish I had a video camera - would have been a great Funnyest Home Vids contribution.

A couple a years ago when we another EWS temporarily take up residence in the house (I'm convinced this was a male as it spent a lot of time after hunting about displaying (doing the headnoddy thing) at everything and everyone in sight. Only stuck around inside for a month or so until one day I decided to have to fun with him by borrowing my wife's vanity mirror and placing it on the floor propped up against the wall in a place I knew he'd go past next time he came for a visit.
I didn't have to wait long as he came toddling in from the laundry and immediately spotted the "other" lizard, first he displayed at it, then he got cranky and started getting more and more aggressive at the "other" lizard, and this escallated and he attacked the "other" lizard - mouth wide open - several times and he eventually gave up trying to send off the "other" lizard and left.
I think he scared himself away as I never saw that lizard inside again. (Scrapper ?)


Completely different response to Lizzy one day when she spotted "another" lizard looking at her (it was her reflection in the little LCD display on the back of my Canon DSLR) , she just got very very curious , she did climb all over the camera checking it out , and didn't display at it at all, had she started displaying at that "other" lizard I would have removed the camera (don't want to repeat what happened with the other lizard), the camera now stays on the tripod or is left on the lounge chair with the shiney display screen hidden from Lizzy's view - JIC .

 

[snakeluvver]

What I find strange about pink tongues is instead of displaying their tongues clearly like bluetongues, they simply open their mouths and sometimes add a hiss in, but usually it barely looks like a threat display.
For instance when I found my male pink tongue after he escaped, I picked him up and he did a threat display. To me, it just looked like his mouth was hanging limply and I was scared he was diseased or something, until I realised he was just displaying.
Just didnt look as threatening as a bluetongues display.

 

[ianinoz]

What I find strange about pink tongues is instead of displaying their tongues clearly like bluetongues, they simply open their mouths and sometimes add a hiss in, but usually it barely looks like a threat display.
For instance when I found my male pink tongue after he escaped, I picked him up and he did a threat display. To me, it just looked like his mouth was hanging limply and I was scared he was diseased or something, until I realised he was just displaying.
Just didnt look as threatening as a bluetongues display.

Just saying to you - "I'm not a happy camper - put me down pal" - bluetongues (and I guess pinktongues) like beardies are all bluff and bluster.

 

[Australis]

What I find strange about pink tongues is instead of displaying their tongues clearly like bluetongues, they simply open their mouths and sometimes add a hiss in, but usually it barely looks like a threat display.
For instance when I found my male pink tongue after he escaped, I picked him up and he did a threat display. To me, it just looked like his mouth was hanging limply and I was scared he was diseased or something, until I realised he was just displaying.
Just didnt look as threatening as a bluetongues display.

It might be mimicry. I haven't seen that in pink-tongues myself but have seen it in other nocturnal lizards as they seemingly mimic a snake as a defense.

 

[MathewB]

I don't think that the blue tongue has anything to do with courtship, vitality etc. but merely a 'you wanna piece of me? You can't handle all of dis!' threat display. It's a bluff, like the milk (?) snake matching/copying the coral snakes pattern and colouring so that predators don't mess with it, that how I see it

 

[Tassie97]

[video=youtube;D4oLJaK5M-A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4oLJaK5M-A[/video]

i was surprised at the way they flick their tongue!

 

[ianinoz]

[video=youtube;D4oLJaK5M-A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4oLJaK5M-A[/video]

i was surprised at the way they flick their tongue!

I don't think that lizard is actually displaying, I think it's tasting the air to determine who you are and if you have food to give it.
It didn't like being grabbed, and didn't want you to touch it from it's behaviour before you grabbed it.

Nice lizard and I like the enclosure.

 

[GeckPhotographer]

What I find strange about pink tongues is instead of displaying their tongues clearly like bluetongues, they simply open their mouths and sometimes add a hiss in, but usually it barely looks like a threat display.
For instance when I found my male pink tongue after he escaped, I picked him up and he did a threat display. To me, it just looked like his mouth was hanging limply and I was scared he was diseased or something, until I realised he was just displaying.
Just didnt look as threatening as a bluetongues display.

Perhaps in your experience. I was photographing a Pink Tongue once. For some reason it was very annoyed that I had moved it off the road. Not only did it open it mouth and poke out its tongue but it actively moved towards me including jumping up as if attacking me. Sure I assumed this was all bluff, until it actually managed to jump up latch onto my finger, twist and pull a little bit of skin off.
Voracious little thing, I left it settle down a few minutes before photographing it.