Skinks in history and culture, plus myths vs facts

The apothecary’s lizard

The pale, wedge-shaped head of a sandfish skink emerging from orange sand — The sandfish, the original “skink”, sold dried as a medicine.Photo: HTO · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

The first animal to be called a skink was the sandfish of the Sahara. Classical Greek and Roman writers, including Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder, wrote about the skinkos or scincus and its supposed medicinal powers. Dioscorides listed it among his medicines, and Pliny called its flesh an antidote to poisons and a powerful aphrodisiac. Dried sandfish were still being sold in German pharmacies in the 19th century. That is why the German name, Apothekerskink, means “pharmacist’s skink”. It does not work. Please leave the sandfish in the sand.

When early naturalists began classifying lizards, the sandfish lent its name first to the genus Scincus and then to the whole family, Scincidae. Every skink on Earth is, in a sense, named after this one.

Aotearoa New Zealand

In te ao Māori, reptiles are ngārara. Tradition gives them as descendants of Punga, and they were often feared and associated with Whiro, with some of their sounds taken as omens. Lizards were also kaitiaki, guardians, placed near burial caves and mauri stones to protect them. Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, has a thoughtful account. We point you there rather than retell stories that are not ours to tell.

Australia

Blue-tongues and shinglebacks are part of everyday life across much of Australia, and many Aboriginal peoples have their own names, knowledge and stories for them. Those belong to particular Countries and communities, so look for them from Aboriginal-led sources. In suburban Australia, wildlife agencies encourage gardeners to welcome blue-tongues as snail-eaters and to protect them.

Science and technology

Skinks have quietly shaped science. The sandfish inspired studies of how animals move through granular material, and sand-swimming robots followed. Skinks are a key group for understanding the evolution of live birth and placentas, limb loss, and social behaviour in reptiles. The shingleback is one of the best-studied examples of long-term monogamy in any reptile.

Myths and facts

MythSkinks are venomous.

FactNo skink is venomous. In the southern United States, red-headed male skinks are sometimes called “scorpions” and feared, but they are harmless.

MythA skink without legs is a snake.

FactMany skinks have tiny limbs or none at all. Lizards have lost their legs many times. Look for eyelids and ear openings, which most legless lizards have and snakes do not.

MythThe slow-worm is a British skink.

FactIt is a legless lizard from a different family, the Anguidae.

MythBlue-tailed skinks are a separate species.

FactBlue tails are often a juvenile colour that fades with age, found in many different species.

MythSkinks feel slimy.

FactSkinks are dry and smooth. The gloss comes from polished scales, not moisture. Salamanders, which are amphibians, are the damp ones.

MythA dropped tail grows back exactly as before.

FactRegrown tails have cartilage instead of bone and usually look different.

MythAll reptiles lay eggs.

FactMany skinks, including blue-tongues, shinglebacks and almost every New Zealand species, give birth to live young.

MythSkinks are all small and boring.

FactSome reach about 80 cm, some live in trees and eat leaves, and some have green blood.

MythIf cats eat skinks they are “poisoned”.

FactSkinks are not toxic, but in some warm regions lizards carry liver flukes that can infect cats that eat them. Another good reason to keep cats in.