Photo by Peter Robertson © Museum Victoria
What's this? A two-headed lizard?
Naww ya silly~ It's a Shingleback Lizard! This beautiful lizard or commonly nicknamed as the Sleepy Lizard can be found in the southern half of Australia. See the tail? It is used to store fat and it looks like the Shingleback's head to confuse its predators.
Now, what's so interesting about this lizard is it has a soft side to it during spring. The male will court the female and the courting can lasts up to 2 months, believe it or not! (Now, that's one determined guy! *winks*) The courting involves the male following the trail of scent left by the female. Another cute thing is, the male would nudge and lick the female in a way to, you know, court/flirt. (awww~)
Shinglebacks are real sweet. When the male is able to finally win the female's heart, they honour their vows. Their 'relationship' can lasts up till 20 years or till death do them apart. When the next mating season comes, they would find one another and produce again. According to the Australian Museum, these Shinglebacks are often seen crossing roads in pairs. Sweet, aren't they? Now, Shinglebacks are slow-moving creatures. And often, they become exposed to the danger of being run over by a car. This is a sad event because, when one of them dies, the other will stay by its side, nudging and licking for days. We could almost call it as grieving and mourning for its dead partner. Bitter-sweet indeed.
Well, moving on to how the Shinglebacks produce its young. The Shingleback mom incubates its eggs inside of her body and when the labour time comes (mind you, Shinglebacks seriously labour their babies! no eggshells!) the Mom would deliver up to two or three babies, one by one. And the process is a hard one because the baby could weigh up to 1/3 Mom's weight so when they come out from Mom, they look so developed and well, BIG. Similar to a human mom delivering a 3 year-old baby.
So there you go. Shinglebacks! A true love story. =)
References:
1. Australia Zoo
2. Australian Museum
3. Museum Victoria Australia
4. Life in Cold Blood (Animal Planet)
