NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Pinecone lizard
Tiliqua rugosa (Gray, 1825)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Tiliqua rugosa, most commonly known as the shingleback skink, shingleback lizard, bobtail lizard, and the two-headed skink (often simply shingleback or bobtail); is a short-tailed, slow-moving species of blue-tongued skink (genus Tiliqua) endemic to Australia. Three of its four recognised subspecies are found in Western Australia, where the bobtail name is most frequently used. The fourth subspecies, T. rugosa asper, is the only one native to eastern Australia, where it goes by the common name of the eastern shingleback. Apart from bobtail and shingleback, a variety of other common names are used in different states, including two-headed skink, stumpy lizard, stumpy-tailed lizard, pinecone lizard, bogeye or boggi, and less commonly: sleepy lizard. The Noongar Aboriginal people refer to T. rugosa as yoorn in their language. T. rugosa has a short, wide, stumpy tail that resembles its head and may serve the purpose of confusing predators.
Wikipedia contributors, Tiliqua rugosa; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:49:43.426298+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tiliqua rugosa (Gray, 1825)
- Name authority
- (Gray, 1825)
- Common name
- Pinecone lizard
- 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 rugosa (Gray, 1825)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Giant Bluetongue SkinkTiliqua gigas (Schneider, 1801) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| Brachydactylus typicus Smith, 1834 Smith, 1834 | synonym |
| Scincus peronii Wagler, 1830 Wagler, 1830 | synonym |
| Trachysaurus peronii Wagler, 1833 Wagler, 1833 | synonym |
| Scincus pachyurus Gray, 1839 Gray, 1839 | synonym |
| Trachydosaurus asper Gray, 1845 Gray, 1845 | synonym |
| Trachydosaurus rugosus Gray, 1825 Gray, 1825 | 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=rugosa 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:56X25. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.