blue-tonguedadj.
/ˈbluːtʌŋd/, U.S. /ˈbluˌtəŋɡd/ 1. blue-tongued lizard chiefly Australian = blue-tongued skink at sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Lacertilia (lizards) > [noun] > family Scincidae > member of genus Tiliqua (blue-tongue)
scincoid lizard1790
scincoid1831
blue-tongued lizard1848
sleepy lizard1883
bluetongue1892
blue-tongued skink1914
1848 W. Carron Jrnl. 26 Dec. in Narr. Exped. Rockingham Bay & Cape York (1849) 74 The natives..gave us a blue-tongued lizard, which I opened and took out eleven young ones, which we roasted and ate.
1887 F. McCoy Prodromus Zool. Victoria II. 120 ‘Blue-tongued Lizard’ or ‘Sleepy Lizard’.
1917 W. Saville-Kent in C. J. Cornish et al. Birds of Other Lands iii. iii. 182 In common with the majority of its allies, the blue-tongued lizard is viviparous.
1951 Bulletin (Sydney) 21 Feb. 12/2 When, at blow-up, the ‘pannikin’ succeeded in bringing him back to life he crawled back to work like a blue-tongued lizard.
2003 C. Arnold Uluru 25 The blue-tongued lizard is a fat, medium-sized lizard found across much of Australia.
2. blue-tongued skink any of several large, heavy-bodied skinks of the genus Tiliqua, native chiefly to Australia, and characterized by a large blue tongue used in defensive display.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Lacertilia (lizards) > [noun] > family Scincidae > member of genus Tiliqua (blue-tongue)
scincoid lizard1790
scincoid1831
blue-tongued lizard1848
sleepy lizard1883
bluetongue1892
blue-tongued skink1914
1914 E. G. Boulenger Reptiles & Batrachians iv. Pl. facing p. 87 Blue-tongued Skink, Tiliqua scincoides.
1957 K. P. Schmidt & R. F. Inger Living Reptiles of World 129/1 The large blue-tongued skink, Tiliqua scincoides.., of Australia normally has around ten young at a time.
1974 V. B. Mountcastle et al. Med. Physiol. (ed. 13) II. lvi. 1309/2 The rather large lizard Tiliqua scincoides (Australian blue-tongued skink)..has no significant physiologic regulation of body temperature.
2009 R. Bjorklund Lizards ii. 20 The blue-tongued skink is an easy-to-care-for lizard, but it does need a large cage with many hiding places.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1848