The Eastern sub-species being known as the "Common Blue Tongue" is somewhat erroneous and misunderstood. Some people believe only the Eastern blue tongue sub-species falls into this category but most old timers believe Northerns also reside under the canopy of this appellation as they are ultimately Scincoides. However now whenever we hear about the "Common Blue Tongue" we immediately think of the Eastern blue tongue skink. Be aware that this once popular designation for Tiliqua scincoides scincoides is now defunct and ironic. As I mentioned previously, Easterns are far from common if not nearing extinction in the US. With so many people misidentifying them to never even seeing one in real life, think of what animals are being bred with what. I met two individual breeders at the 2005 Daytona Show whom I will not mention by name willing to hybridize skinks solely for profit. One of them literally bragged how he would take any skink regardless of species and breed them together simply to create a new morph or a more resplendent animal. One of these particular breeders is quite established and showcased many blue tongues many of which were quickly sold to unaware and often times indifferent buyers who care more about appearance than their origins. I can't tell you how disgusted I am of these breeders. So buyer beware!

At this point I will not buy an Eastern  unless it demonstrates traits I recognized since the 80's as being Easterns. Let's just say it's like finding an authentic diamond in a crate of cubic zirconium.

Purity is relative. I am not foolish to say that all Easterns even those in Australia are always "pure." Often in the wild in bordering states (although rare due to allopatric or sympatric variables) integration may happen between T.S.S. and T.S.I. resulting in interesting patterned offspring. Some locales have T.S.S. that have only the banding with no orange portholes but some more northern in the country have them. Same can be said with the presence of temporal stripes which are very prominent in animals from Central New South Wales to the southern coast but are almost absent to absent from North  New South Wales well into Queensland. (I have heard that even by Coffs Harbour the temporal stripes are all but absent and animals get progressively more yellow / orange the more north you go.) Sometimes  in the old days of breeding it wasn't unusual to even see some traits pop up that seem to be Eastern in Northerns and vice versa. Irian Jayas are our greatest mystery as some suggest they are a natural hybrid between ancient Scincoides and Gigas before the islands separated from the main continent of Australia. They might possibly be ancestors of ancient scincoides that traveled through the now gone land-bridge what is now the Torres Strait evolving into what we know as Irian Jaya blue tongues. Some ask how such a large skink could be hidden from observation for so long (being first imported in the early 90s) and believe they are man-made hybrids but this idea seems to be quite erroneous. Glenn Shea categorizes Irian Jaya as Tiliqua Gigas Evanescens but many in the US believe there should be a distinction between what they call Merauke and Irian Jaya. Personally, I am in the middle with all this. I have seen more than three distinct forms of Irian Jaya - who am I to say they are all different sub-species judging strictly from their morphology? Is it possible that the Merauke blue tongue is just another form of Irian Jaya? Sure. However do I believe the Merauke to be a gigas? Absolutely.

So what is purity?

If certain group of animals from certain locale in the wild have achieved a morphological difference than those of a similar group in a different locale can be considered either a different sub-species or "morph" of that species. There must be a marked and consistent difference between these two separate groups of similar species separated allopatrically or sympatrically just as the Japanese are related but different from Caucasians from Russia. What caused these differences is a discussion better left to another forum but those who care about purity try to maintain the integrity of these animals without crossing different locales together.

When dealing with Easterns compared to Northerns and Irian Jayas the distinctions are at times difficult to ascertain and may not appear clear cut. However, from my exposure to Easterns from animals offered for sale in the late 80's and early 90's prior to the influx of the Irian Jayas and research of them from pictures of native Easterns, I have identified a few critical  but reliable traits of the Eastern blue tongue skink.

FADE TO BLACK

Outside of recognizing pattern, size and form of these skinks, one clearly identifiable trait is what I call the "Fade to Black;" possibly an unconscious reference and fondness to the famous Metallica song. I find it ironic how the lyrics of this very song suit the sad situation of the Easterns in the USA so fittingly. I gave this trait this designation as a way to describe how the color on the backs of Easterns starting from the neck (with color) fades to a very dark shade, often to the color black.  See fig. 2, 3 and 4 as excellent examples of this trait. Even fig. 8 has this trait as the color near the neck of the skink is much lighter gradually darkening down the spine of the skink. This "Fade to Black" trait from my conservative estimation affects many Eastern specimens in the wild approximately in the 50 percentile range. With so many Easterns in the wild exhibiting this trait it was great to find animals in the US that also exhibit this trait. Northerns (T.S.Intermedia), Tanimbars (T.S.Chimearea) and Irian Jayas (T.sp) do not demonstrate the "fade to black" trait.

BLUR

Another trait is what I call the "blur" in which animals seem to have patches or areas on their backs which the scales seem to mix together. Although similar it is not to be confused with the amazing patterns of a Kimberley Northern which also has peppering of black. Although, you may see this trait in some Northerns but rarely to the degree you find it in Easterns. This "blurring" is quite unusual and on many Easterns but not as common as the "fade to black."  You will not find this type of pattern on Irian Jayas and the other species of Tiliqua. Possibly a third or more of all the Easterns  I've seen pictured  (coming from Australian sources) have this trait and many animals have both the "fade to black" and "blur" simultaneously. The blur is extremely difficult to capture on film but can be easily seen in real life especially at a distance.  This trait is also not seen in Irian Jaya or Indonesian skinks.

TEMPORAL STRIPE / STREAK

The other common forms of Easterns in Australia, especially those from the south east demonstrate a clear black stripe behind the eye very similar to T. Mulitfasciata (Centrallian) and T. Occiptalis (Western). This trait is highly prized and coveted in the US but is nearly extinct in the states. Many Australian Easterns from the south east also do not have the "fade to black" but have alternating banding with no yellow/orange portholes. Each of the scales in between the darker banding have partial black borders. You would think this would make Easterns pretty unique but some Irian Jayas such as my Anery look practically identical to these types of Easterns. The real difference is tail size and taper (like any gigas), body shape and often head shape. Many native Easterns in Australia may also be green in hue, a color not seen in Northerns or Irian Jayas. (See fig. 2 and 19) Note that many Easterns in the mid to northern regions of Australia do not have temporal streaks (See fig. 5, 8, 9 , 16, and 18) or just a blushing of it.

CARROT-TAIL

Physically, Easterns have traditionally been quite small in stature compared to  Northerns here in the US. Many Easterns have fat-tails similar to leopard geckos  which are carrot shaped unlike Northerns which have tapered tails. Note: Even though the Northern tail is the most tapered among Australian Tiliqua, the tail width of a Northern is still much greater than any gigas proportionally including Irian Jayas.

Many of these pictures were taken from the net from various Australian sources depicting confirmed Easterns. Of the hundreds of pictures (many far superior than the ones displayed) that are available online, I chose to ignored any Easterns from sites outside of Australia (i.e. USA, European sources). If I am using your picture erroneously please contact me and I will remove it, however I would love to use them for sake of research and identification. I mean no disrespect by using these pictures and will give credit to the owner if possible. Note in Fig. 14 the center skink pictured is an Egernia Major.

Blur trait - Fig. 7, 14, 16, 17

Carrot tail - Clear examples can be seen in Fig. 5, 9, 14

Fade to black - Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19 even pictures 9, 12, 13, 14 show a degree of fading.

Temporal Stripe - Fig. 1, 2, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

If you examine fig. 2, 5, 6, 9, 15 - these Easterns can be mistaken for Irian Jayas. I own and have seen many Irian Jayas with patterns so similar to these Easterns that it would be frightening to know how many people have crossed these two different species of skinks already!

Someone asked me why I share information so readily that would be advantageous to me especially if it's knowledge hard earned through experience and research. I responded quite candidly to the effect below.

Look, whatever profit could be earned would eventually slap me in the face. I'd rather have everyone knowing what Easterns are in hopes of preserving them here in the USA than having people knowingly or unknowingly crossing them with other Tiliqua.  If you want personal advice about purchasing an Eastern, I would buy the ones with extreme fade to black like what I do if I ever find any that are true. Otherwise I tend to stay away from anyone who advertises Easterns. So whenever someone from Australia comes knocking on my door telling me, "Hey not all Easterns have fade to black!" Of course they don't. I would be the first person to tell you this. But if you look at many Easterns and Irian Jayas some look nearly identical! The purpose of this article is to show the people outside Australia what to look for in Eastern stock that has already been riddled with holes, ignorance, neglect and unscrupulousness.

Please examine all these photos carefully and compare them with all other Tiliqua especially those of Northern and Irian Jaya origins. I hope my research has helped you in your own personal quest to learn more about these wonderful reptiles.

 

Thank you

A big thank you to Jane (fig. 4) and Johan (fig. 17,18,19) for taking authentic pics of Tiliqua Scincoides Scincoides from down-under. I appreciate all your kindness and willingness to help someone you have never met so far away in a foreign land.  I also appreciate the people who are allowing me usage of these photos for my research.

Fig. 4 - Jane's Eastern

Fig. 6

Fig. 7 - Southern region

Fig. 8 - North Queensland

Fig. 9

Fig. 10

Fig. 11 - Horner

Fig. 12

Fig. 13

Fig. 14

Fig. 15

Fig. 16 - Most likely from the Northern region

Fig. 17 - New South Wales

Fig. 18 - North Queensland

Fig. 19 - New South Wales

Fig. 20 - Easterns from Aussie Classifieds

Fig. 21 - Easterns from Aussie Classifieds

Fig. 22 - Easterns from Aussie Classifieds