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It is easily recognised, as Girraween's population is brightly coloured, with a striking black and white patterned body and a copper-coloured head. As a species, though, it is very variable in colour. Some other populations have a lightly spotted dark brown or black back with a pink to orange belly, while others have a black-banded grey to olive-brown back with a white belly, and others still may be an overall rusty red-brown colour.
It is a large, thick bodied skink with a thick tail. It can grow up to 30 cm in length.
Its scales are quite rough and those on the back and sides have a strong, rear-pointing spine on them - the spines on the tail being quite long. These spines help to protect the skink. If disturbed, it will run into a crevice and inflate its body with air so that its scales stand up and grip the sides of the crevice. It is then very difficult for a predator to pull it out.
Cunningham’s Skinks can be found in south eastern Queensland, eastern New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It is often found in groups, as it is quite gregarious and lives in small family colonies that share a common territory. This territory is marked by a communal defecation site.
It lives on the ground and is active during the day and, if the weather is warm, into dusk. Favourite shelters are in rock or tree crevices, beneath rock slabs and in hollow logs.
It is an opportunistic feeder (remember the lunch box!) and is omnivorous. Juveniles tend to be more carnivorous, feeding on insects, spiders, snails, worms and even other lizards. Adults prefer soft plant material such as flowers, berries, leaves and shoots.
Cunningham’s Skinks mate in Spring and females give birth in late Summer to up to six live young, which are about 12 cm in length. The young often stay with their parents in the colony for many years. They become sexually mature at 5 years of age and can live to be 30.
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