Cunningham's Skink

Cunningham’s skink, also called Cunningham’s spiny-tailed skink, is a large species of skink native to Southeast Australia. This lizard is named after the explorer and botanist Allan Cunningham. The keelor ridge on each scale gives them their spiny appearance.

They are able to grow up to 40cm in length! Because of their enormous size they can be mistaken for the blue-tongued lizard. Cunningham’s skinks vary in colour and patterning – ranging from black to a dark or reddish brown, with spots and speckles, blotches, bands, or stripes on the skin.

Cunningham’s skinks form close family bonds and live in social groups to protect themselves from predators. Living in groups is beneficial because it makes spotting danger a lot easier than living alone! If the lizard feels threatened it will hide under a rock or log. If this isn’t enough to escape danger, it will swell its body to a larger size up by sucking in air – just like a balloon! Its bigger size combined with its spiky scales dig into the sides of its hiding place, making it much harder for a predator to pull the skink out!