In 2009, the holotype, known from early Pliocene to early Pleistocene rocks from the Wellington Caves of New South Wales in Australia, consisted of the anterior portion of the left mandible, from the symphysis to the splenial bone and containing portions of the coronoid.

Teeth number 9 to 15 are intact, with the eighth being a partial tooth and none of the other remaining past the mandible.

[1] In 2013, Čerňanský and Hutchinson described a new species of blue-tongued skink, T. laticephala, from Pliocene rocks of the same location where A. frangens was discovered; the specific name is a portmanteau of Latin word latus which means 'broad' and Greek word kephalē (κεφαλή) which means 'head'.

[3] T. frangens is the largest known skink, measuring nearly 60 cm (2.0 ft) long from snout to vent and weighing approximately 2.4 kg (5.3 lb).

[3] Although the skull that measured 7 cm (2.8 in) long isn't significantly larger in comparison to other species of Tiliqua, it is much more robust, broad and deep with a shorter muzzle.