Blue Tailed Skink

Sassy · July 29, 2011, 07:19:57 PM

I was out watering my roses along a rock wall & saw this amazing blue tailed skink... I thought it was a tiny snake at 1st & watched it for a few minutes. Then went to get my camera... wouldn't you know it, the battery was dead

Looked it up on google & came up w/these 2 links that have pretty good pictures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziV3Z3BTHFE

http://kaweahoaks.com/html/skinks.htm

From the research I did, there was contradictory info on where they live - a couple sites said the eastern US, while others said Australia, New Guinea...

Well, there was one right here on one of the rock walls at the Underground Command Center.

Oh, just found another video that calls it a Western skink... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMonPwX3Xho&feature=related

None of the videos or pictures do justice to the fantastic colors...

Anyway, probably many of you have seen them, but I was quite impressed by the beautiful blue colors on the tail that started out turquoise to a neon blue & the head & body had yellow stripes down it on a black background. Sounds like I'm describing the latest fashion

Homegrown Tomatoes · July 30, 2011, 06:32:22 AM

We have a lot of them around here. Never lived any place with so many lizards in all my life. There are some bigger lizards that the girls catch and bring in all the time.... think they're called prairie lizards... and then a lot of the blue-tailed skinks. They are really pretty. Would love to hear an evolutionist try to explain what adaptive advantage that a neon blue tail could possibly have in the wild where it stands out like a peacock's tailfeathers.

July 30, 2011, 07:23:04 AM

Er...actually the blue tail is a defense mechanism so they live long enough to reproduce...

QuoteFive-lined skinks have a bright blue tail, at least as juveniles, which serves to draw attention away from more vulnerable parts of the body. If attacked, the bright blue tail wriggles when broken off, catching an enemy's eye as the skink escapes.

Don_P · July 30, 2011, 01:03:33 PM

we've got a number of lizards around including blue tailed skinks. We were talking about them at lunch the other day while watching one exploring the stone wall. The subject turned a bit, this is our big salamander;
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/hellbender/

MushCreek · July 30, 2011, 03:32:42 PM

We have blue-tailed skinks here in FL, along with several other lizards that are very numerous. Then, there's the alligator.......

July 30, 2011, 10:24:05 PM

Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on July 30, 2011, 06:32:22 AM
We have a lot of them around here. Never lived any place with so many lizards in all my life. There are some bigger lizards that the girls catch and bring in all the time.... think they're called prairie lizards... and then a lot of the blue-tailed skinks. They are really pretty. Would love to hear an evolutionist try to explain what adaptive advantage that a neon blue tail could possibly have in the wild where it stands out like a peacock's tailfeathers.

Yes, I was wondering the same thing... read that it takes the attention away from their bodies & vital organs - they can drop their tail when attacked.

Evolution - still amazes me how the zillions of varieties of life could be attributed to evolution... how in the heck do more than one type of life/entity evolve at the same time in order to procreate? If it's random over millions/billions of years, what are the chances of 2 biological entities evolving through random mutations to turn out alike, at the same time, especially when you need a male & female?

Takes more faith than I have to believe in evolution. Micro evolution, yes, but certainly not macro...

HoustonDave · July 30, 2011, 11:51:00 PM

QuoteEvolution - still amazes me how the zillions of varieties of life could be attributed to evolution... how in the heck do more than one type of life/entity evolve at the same time in order to procreate? If it's random over millions/billions of years, what are the chances of 2 biological entities evolving through random mutations to turn out alike, at the same time, especially when you need a male & female? Huh? Takes more faith than I have to believe in evolution. Micro evolution, yes, but certainly not macro...

That's a good question.

The answer to part of it is that there are examples today of different species interbreeding and having fertile offspring.

Domestic cow + North American bison = Beefalo (fertile)
Lion + Tiger = Tigon or Liger (the females are fertile and I think can backbreed with either tigers or lions, the males are not)
Coyotes, wolves, dingoes, jackals and domestic dogs the same genus but different species, and they can interbreed and have fertile offspring.
King snakes can breed with corn snakes and produce fertile offspring.

So you don't actually have to have a situation where enough of critter A produced a set of new species critter B which could then breed amongst themselves. We have examples in present day that (in pretty rare cases), different species that are sort of similar can interbreed and produce offspring that are fertile and can breed with one or both of the parents' species.

But that only solves part of the problem, and the rest would take a lot more writing. I don't think anyone wants to read that...

Sassy · July 31, 2011, 11:09:24 AM

Basically, the way scientists have arbitrarily divided species & genus - species come from common ancestors so they still contain many common DNA & are able to interbreed - although as you said, the male is often sterile & sometimes the female is, too. You are talking about micro-evolution.

When have you ever seen breeding between different genus? Oh, over billions & billions of years... give me a break, I'm not trying to be argumentative, it is just beyond my capacity to believe. Sure, a person can speculate that out of nothing something appeared given millions & billions of years...

My belief is there was a Creator Who always was, is & will always be - the great I AM... Who is the author of art, humor, righteousness, love & mercy...

Both are belief systems - one is totally random - the other is a plan, has meaning.

So, you may not believe in a creator, but you believe in evolution... We all die sometime - if I'm wrong, it is of no consequence, if you are wrong

?

glenn kangiser · July 31, 2011, 11:13:19 AM

Then again, I have evolved into the perfect super human specimen you see here.....

How do you explain that, Sassy? ....

July 31, 2011, 11:23:08 AM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on July 31, 2011, 11:13:19 AM
Then again, I have evolved into the perfect super human specimen you see here.....

How do you explain that, Sassy? ....

RADIATION?

peternap · July 31, 2011, 11:38:28 AM

Quote from: Sassy on July 30, 2011, 10:24:05 PM

Evolution - still amazes me how the zillions of varieties of life could be attributed to evolution... how in the heck do more than one type of life/entity evolve at the same time in order to procreate? If it's random over millions/billions of years, what are the chances of 2 biological entities evolving through random mutations to turn out alike, at the same time, especially when you need a male & female? Takes more faith than I have to believe in evolution. Micro evolution, yes, but certainly not macro...

I wish you'd start a separate thread about this Sassy.
Of all the sites on the internet, I think here, you'd get intelligent and interesting comments and discussion.

glenn kangiser · July 31, 2011, 11:49:16 AM

Quote from: peternap on July 31, 2011, 11:23:08 AM

RADIATION?

Is your name Sassy? Don't give her ideas, Peter....

Sassy · July 31, 2011, 11:53:56 AM

Peternap, we've had quite a few discussions on evolution already, here. People are going to choose to believe in evolution or they will choose to believe in a Creator.

I almost wrote about how wondrously & marvelously the blue tailed skink was created, the creativity, color, ability to protect itself by just the same attributes by detaching it's tail as a decoy.

A person has the freedom to believe what they like - it is all a step of faith...

Blame it on Homegrown - she brought the subject up

Sassy · July 31, 2011, 11:55:00 AM

Quote from: peternap on July 31, 2011, 11:23:08 AM

RADIATION?

Voila, you've solved the riddle, Peter! Thanks...

July 31, 2011, 12:36:16 PM

Quote from: Sassy on July 31, 2011, 11:09:24 AM
My belief is there was a Creator Who always was, is & will always be - the great I AM... Who is the author of art, humor, righteousness, love & mercy...

Both are belief systems - one is totally random - the other is a plan, has meaning.

So, you may not believe in a creator, but you believe in evolution... We all die sometime - if I'm wrong, it is of no consequence, if you are wrong ?

Errr. Sassy you seem to assume certain things about me. I agree 100% with your first paragraph. As a Christian I also believe in one God who is eternal and created all things. And as an engineer, based on the science it seems to me that evolution works as well. I see the hand of the Creator in the beauty of his creations and the ways in which they appear to work.

Homegrown did open up a can of worms on this one. I think this conversation could end up spanning presestination and the difference between that and being omniscient. And like I said, there is a supposed explanation for how you get from micro to macro evolution, but tap tapping on my phone would take hours. If you actually want to read it I'll take the time. But I also think we have thoroughly hijacked this thread.

Sassy · July 31, 2011, 06:27:59 PM

Yep, we sure have

Glad to hear you are a fellow believer... And yes, we've gone on & on in other hijacked threads about evolution vs creation

I, for one, enjoy the discussions & it causes me to study more on what & why I believe certain things... for sure, I didn't come to faith in Jesus Christ blindly...

That brings me to the conundrum I have w/evolution. I could see maybe the earth having been here for millions, billions of years, exhibiting the changes we see, but I can also believe that God could create it all in an instant or in the portrayal of the 6 day creation story in Genesis.

As a believer you have the problem of the fall into sin ie Adam & Eve - with that fall came death. At the same time God revealed His plan for salvation through His Son. Giving man free will to choose to love Him or doubt Him & think maybe He might be holding out on something by forbidding them to eat from the tree of good & evil, man chose to disobey the one "no" commandment which brought pride, envy, doubt, strife, death into the world.

Animals don't really have a true free will - you can see by their instincts, sensitivity to mood, fear, even some dogs sensing a person who is in the early stages of cancer. You see the migratory patterns of birds & other animals, They are still in tune to their Creator in most respects, although you see some very human characteristics in some of our domesticated animals

If life evolved there would have been death before the fall, but God stated that all He created was good. In my view, I don't see how biological life could have evolved if a person believes the Bible.

Are you having to post your responses from your telephone? You must be a good texter! I would be interested in your explanation but hate to have you have to text it all - that would be pretty laborious!

If you do decide to, start another thread & we can get a full discussion with others, as well

rick91351 · July 31, 2011, 06:59:58 PM

Quote from: Sassy on July 31, 2011, 06:27:59 PM
Yep, we sure have Glad to hear you are a fellow believer... And yes, we've gone on & on in other hijacked threads about evolution vs creation

I, for one, enjoy the discussions & it causes me to study more on what & why I believe certain things... for sure, I didn't come to faith in Jesus Christ blindly...
snip----------------------------snip-------------------------snip-------------------------------------
If you do decide to, start another thread & we can get a full discussion with others, as well

Amen! However it is too easy and fun hijacking the Blue Tailed Skink.

If you did one on evolution vs creation, someone would most likely hijack it with span calculations or knee wall heights or the ever popular collar ties.....

glenn kangiser · July 31, 2011, 07:10:31 PM

Ummm .... well with all this preachin' going on I thought it was best not to say that in my younger days I nearly dated a blue tailed skank one time.... but then I checked the spelling and found out that that was irrelevant....

Sassy · July 31, 2011, 07:13:00 PM

Quote from: rick91351 on July 31, 2011, 06:59:58 PM

Amen! However it is too easy and fun hijacking the Blue Tailed Skink.

If you did one on evolution vs creation, someone would most likely hijack it with span calculations or knee wall heights or the ever popular collar ties.....

Of all the nerve!!!

And Glenn, ahem

glenn kangiser · July 31, 2011, 07:17:59 PM

Ahem.... how about Amazing Grace...

http://youtu.be/UvYIjFtPQEk

July 31, 2011, 10:45:11 PM

Quote from: rick91351 on July 31, 2011, 06:59:58 PM

If you did one on evolution vs creation, someone would most likely hijack it with span calculations or knee wall heights or the ever popular collar ties.....

Well done.

I went to a fistfight one time, and in the middle of it a hockey game broke out....similar concept.

HoustonDave · July 31, 2011, 10:47:26 PM

Quote from: Sassy on July 31, 2011, 06:27:59 PM
Are you having to post your responses from your telephone? You must be a good texter! I would be interested in your explanation but hate to have you have to text it all - that would be pretty laborious!

If you do decide to, start another thread & we can get a full discussion with others, as well

My wife says I am eternally 'plugged in'. Sometimes I'm reading and posting from my phone, other times from my computer. But yes it's a pain typing on those little touchkeys and doing anything that requires a lot of explanation.

glenn kangiser · July 31, 2011, 10:54:28 PM

I once posted something on my topic off of my Android but later found I had also locked my topic...... decided not to post from my phone too much... [ouch]

rick91351 · August 01, 2011, 03:25:20 AM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on July 31, 2011, 10:54:28 PM
I once posted something on my topic off of my Android but later found I had also locked my topic...... decided not to post from my phone too much... [ouch]

Lets see now went from Blue Tailed Skink to evolution, creation, radiation, Native American - Amazing Grace (in cherokee), to text messaging and posting from phone and Android. Simply amazing this forum. You just got to love it!

HoustonDave · August 01, 2011, 09:31:41 AM

Quote from: rick91351 on August 01, 2011, 03:25:20 AM
Lets see now went from Blue Tailed Skink to evolution, creation, radiation, Native American - Amazing Grace (in cherokee), to text messaging and posting from phone and Android. Simply amazing this forum. You just got to love it!

We haven't discussed the correlation between skirt length and global depression yet, so I think we've still got some mileage on us! lol