Chameleons Are A Clade

[chameleons3]

I said once that Chameleons are like a clade. While we are all distinct individuals, our origins are the same, and we have an overarching same-ness. I like to use phylogeny to pull out this metaphor. Let's use blue tongued skinks, or Tiliqua, as our example.

Yes, I am aware of the irony of not using an animal in the family Chameleonidae. Just roll with it.

Referring to “blue tongued skinks” might mean referring to the genus, a specific species, or a specific individual of a species. Context would tell you which. Or, you’d have to specify.
Referring to Tiliqua as a genus:

• blue tongued skinks are known for their blue tongues
• blue tongued skinks bear live young
• blue tongued skinks can live up to 20 years in captivity.
• blue tongued skinks are omnivores.
• blue tongued skinks are diurnal.

Tiliqua shares an evolutionary history record up until a very recent divergence. Visually apparent morphological differences can give you some insight as to which Tiliqua species you’re dealing with. If you were trying to meet the needs of a specific skink, then this is not sufficient anymore. Let's say you've got one you need to take care of now, and you're reading up on their needs. Or, worse yet, assuming their needs based on what you have been told about "blue tongue skinks" as a whole.

• Blue tongued skinks require high humidity. Which ones? Tiliqua gigas, endemic to New Guinea.
• Blue tongued skinks are adapted to semi-arid climates. Uh oh, which ones? Tiliqua multifasciata, endemic to the northwest corner of New South Wales.
• Blue tongued skinks are adapted to a Mediterranean climate. Tiliqua occipitalis.
• Blue tongued skinks have a wide distribution across habitat zones, including established populations near humans. Wait, which one was THAT? Tiliqua nigrolutea, endemic to southeastern Australia.

Context and need would indicate what terms and words to use, who you’re talking about, and why.

It’s helpful to start with Tiliqua as a whole, sure, to understand each one. But you could really harm one species of Tiliqua by trying to provide the conditions needed by another.

If you’re referring to captive husbandry of blue tongued skinks, you could hear any of the following:

• most of them are wild caught
• most of them are captive bred
• they are friendly
• they are flighty (prone to try and run from you)
• they are bitey
• they are super chill, like holding a potato lizard
• they prefer high humidity
• they fare well in low humidity
• they require low humidity
• they will climb, provided the space to do so
• they prefer being on the ground, but will climb once in a while

All true. And also, not all true. Yes, they are all blue tongue skinks. But which one are you working with? For which environments are they adapted? How does that differ from a blue tongue skink you might be more familiar with? How might you harm one species by treating it like a different one? Or, which ones can adapt to pretty much anything? You can learn more about varying heat and humidity requirements for Tiliqua here.

All of this to say: there is such a thing as "apparently the same, while not the same." And coexisting with that state, "apparently quite different, but at their roots, all the same." We are both of these things.