mouth and sticks out its blue tongue to warn off predators showing that it may be distasteful. The lizards also hiss, which adds fear to any potential predators. Many methods have been explored in order to best categorize lizards as male or female. Lizard sex can be determined non invasively by measuring head width, snout-vent length, weight, and trunk length. Specifically, ratios of head width to snout-vent length and head width to trunk length can be calculated to determine the sex of the blue tongued eastern lizard. Studies have been done that show that reptiles are capable of feeling human like feelings such as anxiety and pleasure among other emotions. Protective coloration It has been hypothesized that the Tiliqua scincoides scincoides has a blue tongue in order to mimic the Death Adder which shares some characteristics with the lizard and is poisonous. The Death Adder and the tiliqua scincoides scincoides have very similar coloration. Additionally, since this type of lizard has very short legs, it does look very similar to a snake. The Tiliqua scincoides scincoides hisses loudly and puffs up its chest to appear larger and assert dominance. This lizard species can also lose its tail during a quarrel and regrow it. It typically takes a year for their tail to regrow. In terms of breeding, the Tiliqua scincoides scincoides spend most of their time alone. However, September, October, and November are mating months. These months consist of fights between males in order to attain their first choice female. More research needs to be done on whether the skinks blue tongue is a result of an adaptation that is anti-predatory or if it serves as infraspecific communication. Studies have been done, however, that have supported the idea that the amount of melanin that is present in the skink's skin does not heavily effect tongue coloration Another interesting finding is that blue colored tongues have similar chromatic qualities to UV blue skin patches and can be reflective. Another finding from this 2015 study is that “UV blue tongues are more conspicuous than pink tongues, especially in the visual model of conspecifics”. Olfaction The eastern blue tongue skink has an olfactory epithelium that appears to be of the pseudo stratified type and is loosely packed. The underlying Bowman glands and other supporting cells secrete to the olfactory epithelium's surface which has cilia from sensory cells and microvilli from supporting cells. Venom