Blue - tongued skink
The common giant lizard is another name for this large lizard from the skink family, reaching up to half a meter or more in length.
It lives in desert and arid areas, in lowland and mountain forests, on the coasts of Australia, New Guinea and on nearby islands.
It has excellent, albeit black-and–white vision, but there is another amazing organ - special receptors in the sky that allow you to "take samples" of the surrounding air, which the blue-tongued skink periodically does while traversing its territory. It is capable of biting noticeably, even despite the lack of sharpness of teeth. If the lizard senses danger, it immediately becomes a defensive pose of intimidation – inflates the body, hisses, opens its mouth wide and shows a blue tongue.
It feeds mainly on plant food (various vegetables and fruits, leaves, shoots and flowers of wild plants), but can occasionally hunt small animals.
There is no sexual dimorphism. In nature, mating occurs in September-November. Lizards are viviparous. They form a placenta-like structure (the so-called yolk placenta), through which gas exchange and nutrition of embryos occur. They become sexually mature at 2-3 years of age. Females usually bear offspring no more than once every two years. Pregnancy lasts about 4 months, after which the female gives birth to up to 25 cubs. At birth , the cubs reach a length of 13-14 cm and weigh 10-20 g. The young grow very quickly and in a terrarium at 8 months can reach a length of 50 cm.
They live up to 20 years. Blue-tongued skinks with careful and patient attitude to them can become domestic and almost tame animals.