Which reptile has a blue tongue used to startle predators?

The reptile with a blue tongue used to startle predators is the blue-tongued skink. Blue-tongued skinks are lizards in the Australasian genus Tiliqua, and their unusually vivid tongue is their most famous defense.

When threatened, a skink opens its mouth and thrusts out its broad blue tongue. The sudden flash can surprise or confuse a predator, while the skink may also hiss, flatten its body, and inflate itself to look larger. The tongue is not venomous and is not used to inject poison.

Blue-tongued skinks live mainly in Australia, with some species and subspecies found in New Guinea and Indonesian islands. They are slow-moving, ground-dwelling omnivores that eat insects, snails, flowers, fruit, and other plant matter. Their blue tongue also plays a role in feeding: it can produce sticky mucus that helps capture prey.

A common mix-up is assuming this refers to one single species. “Blue-tongued skink” is a widely used name for several Tiliqua species, including the eastern and northern blue-tongues.