Range

Australia is the native home of the shingleback. Here they can be found across the south of the country in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria.

Habitat

They occupy a wide range of habitats including mallee woodland, shrubland, semiarid grassland plains, coastal dunes and eucalypt forests.

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Reproduction

Breeding pairs will come together in the spring to mate. Males will trail the females in their attempt to find a mate. Once they do find a mate they often stay together for life.

Females give birth from December to April.

The gestation period is between three and five months long after which the female will give birth to between one and three young. Unlike most reptiles they give birth to live young. Instead young develop in the oviduct attached to a placenta that is similar to that of many mammals.

After birth the young will eat the placenta and within a few days can look after themselves and will disperse. They shed their skin for the first time soon after birth.

Young are quite large at birth measuring 220mm (8.7in) long and weighing 700g (24.7oz).

Behavior

These animals are solitary for most of the year only coming together with their mate for the breeding season.

They are reliant on the sun to produce body heat.

Shingleback skinks are active by day. They will bask in the sun during the morning and spend the afternoon foraging. At night they will take shelter under leaf litter, rocks or logs.

During periods of cold weather they will be mostly inactive and spend their time buried in a sheltered area. On days of sunny weather during these periods they may come out and bask. They can survive their periods of inactivity due to the fat store in their tail.

Throughout the year they will regularly shed their skin.

Predators and Threats

Natural predators include the dingo, birds of prey such as the laughing kookaburra and large snakes such as the red-bellied black snake and eastern brown snake. Introduced predators such as dogs, cats and the red fox also pose a threat.

When threatened they will turn to the predator and open their mouth. This shows their blue tongue which contrasts with the pink mouth and may scare off the predator. They will also hiss and flatten their body so they look bigger.

Their tail being shaped like the head confuses predators.

Humans pose a threat through hitting them with lawnmowers and brushcutters.

One of the main threats is vehicle strike. They will bask on the road as it warms up quickly and helps them to regulate their body temperature.

They may be collected in small numbers for the pet trade.

Quick facts

They have many other common names including the stumpy tailed skink, sleepy lizard, bobtail, pine cone lizard and two-headed lizard.