NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Giant Bluetongue Skink
Tiliqua gigas (Schneider, 1801)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Giant lizard specie from the Sahel belt of northern Africa, captive in the terrarium of Loro Parque zoo, Tenerife (Spain).
Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Indonesian blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua gigas) is a lizard in the family Scincidae. It is a close relative of the eastern blue-tongued skink. They are endemic to the island of New Guinea and other various surrounding islands. They are found typically in the rainforest, and in captivity, require high humidity. In comparison to Tiliqua scincoides, they are fairly lean. They also have long tails (60–90% of their snout-vent length).
Wikipedia contributors, Indonesian blue-tongued skink; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:06:28.268478+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tiliqua gigas (Schneider, 1801)
- Name authority
- (Schneider, 1801)
- Common name
- Giant Bluetongue Skink
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Scincidae
- Genus
- Tiliqua
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyScincidae
- subfamilyEgerniinae
- genusTiliqua
- speciesTiliqua gigas (Schneider, 1801)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Tiliqua. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Centralian Blue-Tongued LizardTiliqua multifasciata Sternfeld, 1919 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Blotched Blue-Tongued LizardTiliqua nigrolutea (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pinecone lizardTiliqua rugosa (Gray, 1825) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Western Blue-Tongued LizardTiliqua occipitalis (Peters, 1863) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common BluetongueTiliqua scincoides (White, 1790) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Cyclodus flavigularis Wagler, 1828 Wagler, 1828 | synonym |
| Scincus gigas Schneider, 1801 Schneider, 1801 | synonym |
| Tiliqua gigas var. keyensis Oudemans, 1894 Oudemans, 1894 | synonym |
| Cyclodus petersii Strauch, 1866 Strauch, 1866 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Tiliqua&species=gigas Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:56WZ6. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.