blue-tongued skink (remains)

Description:

The remains of a blue-tongued skink. It could be nothing else at this location. "Tiliqua gigas, commonly known as the [(giant)] blue-tongued skink, is best known for its bright blue tongue. It is a gray lizard about 30cm from the snout to the base of the tail and 55cm from the snout to the tip of the tail, with dark flanks and legs and lateral stripes. Its threat display, in which it opens its mouth wide to display its tongue and makes a loud hissing noise, is so striking that the [Indonesian]-speaking people of New Guinea call it “ular kaki [e]mpat” or “snake with four legs” and [to this day] fear that it [i]s extremely venomous. In actuality, however, the lizard is fairly harmless. Tiliqua gigas is an omnivore and is often associated with human agricultural settlements. A broad diet and distinctive appearance have recently made this species and its relatives popular as pets.

Habitat:

Found uncovered on the top of the ground near a compost heap in a large semi-urban yard & garden near a disturbed patch of remnant lowland forest.

Notes:

This was a very strange find because I walk the perimeter fence of my place every day and it was not there yesterday yet it was not a fresh carcass. I don't think it was not one of these indioviduals http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/704... because they would have been larger by now, anyway I hope not for sentimental reasons.