May 30, 2025
an actual mistake I've made
seen from Argentina
seen from Singapore
seen from South Africa
seen from United States
seen from Kuwait
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from Canada
seen from Indonesia
seen from Canada
seen from Kenya
seen from Morocco
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
seen from India
seen from Malaysia
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from China
an actual mistake I've made
A shingleback skink (Tiliqua rugosa) flashes its blue tongue in a defensive posture in Gundabooka National Park, NSW, Australia
by Ken Griffiths
Uncharismatic Fact of the Day
Aotearoa (aka New Zealand) is home to a wonderfully diverse array of animals-- and one that mustn't be overlooked in the slightest is the slight skink! As Aotearoa's smallest skink species, they can reach a maximum length of only 5.1 cm (2 in) including the tail.
Using this month's free blaze to share one of the blue-tongue skinks that live in my backyard.
There's at least three, all indifferent to human whim, so they occasionally have to be moved so the lawn can be mowed.
Have you seen the New Zealand grass skink (Oligosoma polychroma)?
I have now
Yes, in photos/videos
Yes, irl
I'm not sure
My partner accidentally disturbed some skink nests while prepping the pumpkin patch this year, eggs were scattered everywhere. So he collected them, did his best to figure out how to orient the eggs correctly, and made a little incubator nest for them, and we hoped for the best. Thanks to him, 5/6 eggs successfully hatched the other day and 5 tiny little lizards got to be released into the world, right back in the pumpkin patch where they started! May they live and thrive and eat many pests for us!
Italian Three-Toed Skink (Chalcides chalcides)
Family: Skink Family (Scincidae)
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern
Like several other species of lizard, the Italian Three-Toed Skink has adapted to move through areas covered with dense vegetation by developing an elongated, flexible, snake-like body with highly regressed limbs, although unlike many other "snake-like lizards" members of this species still possess four tiny limbs, each ending in a stumpy three-toed foot. Said limbs are far too small to support the skink's weight and serve no role in movement (which is achieved through an elegant snake-like slithering motion,) which has led many to question what purpose, if any, they serve; it is generally assumed that the limbs are vestigial and that, given sufficient time, the descendants of modern Italian Three-Toed Skinks will lose them entirely, although some herpetologists and evolutionary biologists have suggested that the continued existence of this species' limbs suggests that they must serve some function, such as being moved as part of a courtship display or allowing mating individuals to hold onto one another (although as these behaviours have never been observed these suggestions are entirely speculative.) Found in damp, well-vegetated areas across most of mainland Italy as well as Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and the nearby island of Sardinia, members of this species are diurnal, feed mainly on insects and breed during the spring; like most skinks, females of this species give birth to live young, with newborns, which resemble miniature adults, being independent immediately after birth.
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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53646-Chalcides-chalcides
