Tiliqua rugosa

Shingleback Lizard at Kiah, NSW

Tiliqua rugosa at Kiah, NSW - 4 Aug 2019
Tiliqua rugosa at Kiah, NSW - 4 Aug 2019
Tiliqua rugosa at Kiah, NSW - 4 Aug 2019
Tiliqua rugosa at Kiah, NSW - 4 Aug 2019
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Identification history

Tiliqua rugosa 8 Aug 2019 PatrickCampbell
Unidentified 7 Aug 2019 jimm

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User's notes

Tiliqua rugosa. Unusual, out-of-range sighting

6 comments

JackieMiles wrote:
   8 Aug 2019
Indeed. That would just about have to be an escapee from captivity I would think.
   9 Aug 2019
I agree. It's definitely a Shingleback (Tiliqua rugosa) and looks to be the eastern subspecies T. rugosa asper. It's out of its natural range and possibly a dumped or escaped pet (as mentioned) or possibly picked up on the road and transported to this ill-suited coastal district. Either way, it's wholly unsuited to humid coastal regions such as this, so unless rescued will probably inevitably succumb to ill-health.
MaxCampbell wrote:
   9 Aug 2019
I've created Tiliqua rugosa in our data base as a non-local native. I've added this description: Habitat: Dry sclerophyll forest, open woodland and semi-arid and arid areas. Sightings on the coast are unlikely to be natural occurrence.
   10 Aug 2019
Thanks for your comments, Patrick and Max. I posted this sighting for Jim Morris who found the lizard on his property. Jim doesn’t use the internet himself, so I’ll pass on your comments. I’m sure he’ll be interested. Paul
   10 Aug 2019
You're welcome Paul. It's probably in the lizards best welfare to have it rescued by a wildlife carer, such as someone from WIRES. It's been quite dry lately but as soon as the wet weather hits, it'll probably get a respiratory infection, which without treatment may prove to be fatal.
   10 Aug 2019
Thanks Patrick. I’ll pass this suggestion on to Jim.

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Location information

Sighting information

Species information

  • Tiliqua rugosa Scientific name
  • Shingleback Lizard Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Non-local native
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • Up to 888.04m Recorded at altitude
  • 388 images trained Machine learning
1,898,437 sightings of 21,107 species in 9,314 locations from 12,954 contributors
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