91:
300:. The Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was discovered in 1888. It was formerly the most abundant reptile on the island, and occurred in high numbers particularly near the human settlement. However, the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink began to decline sharply outwardly from the human settlement by the early 1990s, which coincided with the introduction of a predatory snake and also followed the introduction of the yellow crazy ant (
349:(SVL) of 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in). It can be identified by its small black body with two yellow stripes running down the skink's back and onto its vibrant blue tail. The skink can use its blue tail to draw a predator's attention away from its body by separating its tail from its body. The bright color of the skink's tail means predators are much more likely to notice the tail than the skink's black body.
66:
38:
463:, which originated from 66 skinks that were brought into captivity before their population was wiped out. The breeding program has been running for over a decade, with the goal of releasing some of the skinks back into their native habitat. Since the Taronga Conservation Society conservation efforts began, 300 skinks have been introduced to the
474:) was sequenced in 2022, marking the first high quality skink reference genome. Analysis of this genome revealed high genetic diversity, reflective of large historical population sizes. However, regions of the genome also showed signs of recent inbreeding, likely because skinks used to found the captive population were somewhat related.
454:
The threat of extinction is largely attributed to introductions of invasive species, including a predatory wolf snake and the yellow crazy ant which were unintentionally brought to the island in the 1980s. The
Christmas Island blue-tailed skink is now extinct in the wild. However,
389:, though insects remain its primary source of food. Because of its small size, the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink forages for its food on the ground, over exposed rocks and low-lying vegetation, and will generally only eat prey that are slower moving.
716:
401:
occurs when males and females are approximately one year old. The
Christmas Island blue-tailed skink typically lives for seven years in the wild, six of which are active breeding years. The male Christmas Island blue-tailed skink will demonstrate
406:
behaviour when trying to find a mate. The female
Christmas Island blue-tailed skink will emit biochemicals for the males to smell, letting them know that the female is in her fertile stage of
1128:
1174:
1058:
1194:
438:
and could be found all over the island. It currently exists in captive populations on
Christmas Island, at Taronga Zoo, and on a small island (Pulu Blan) in the
1097:
306:) in the mid-1980s. By 2006, the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was on the endangered animals list, and by 2010 the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was
878:
Dodge, Tristram O.; Farquharson, Katherine A.; Ford, Claire; Cavanagh, Lisa; Schubert, Kristen; Schumer, Molly; Belov, Katherine; Hogg, Carolyn J. (2023).
502:
from the group taking place around seven million years ago. It has an XY sex determination system, which is likely shared across all major skink lineages.
1032:
1071:
797:
1136:
826:"Insular biogeographic origins and high phylogenetic distinctiveness for a recently depleted lizard fauna from Christmas Island, Australia"
511:
1189:
1184:
20:
410:. Male Christmas Island blue-tailed skinks will often fight each other to win a female mate during breeding season. These skinks are
880:"Genomes of two Extinct‐in‐the‐Wild reptiles from Christmas Island reveal distinct evolutionary histories and conservation insights"
664:"The lost lizards of Christmas Island: A retrospective assessment of factors driving the collapse of a native reptile community"
414:
which increases their chance of having offspring. Once the female
Christmas Island blue-tailed skink has been fertilized, being
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started a captive breeding program, which has prevented total extinction of the species.
248:
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235:
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75:
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717:"Options beyond captivity for two critically endangered Christmas Island reptiles"
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reptiles, with the
Christmas Island blue-tailed shinning-skink at right.
1037:
282:
132:
37:
1050:
755:
Saving the Blue-Tailed Skink | Taronga
Conservation Society Australia
679:
378:
366:
286:
112:
927:
594:
152:
430:
Until the late 1990s, the
Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was
357:
The
Christmas Island blue-tailed skink is a forager known as an
1024:
931:
824:; Richmond, Jonathan Q.; Woinarski, John C. Z. (30 June 2018).
370:
792:. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp.
345:
The
Christmas Island blue-tailed skink typically grows to a
19:
For other species sometimes known as blue-tailed skink, see
418:, it will generally lay two eggs at a time, with a 75-day
498:
native to Australia, with the estimated divergence of
397:
For the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink, the first
470:
The genome of the blue-tailed skink (along with the
940:
567:
10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T102327291A102327566.en
459:currently has an active breeding program hosted by
621:Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London
8:
275:Christmas Island blue-tailed shinning-skink
31:Christmas Island blue-tailed shining-skink
928:
64:
36:
27:
1175:IUCN Red List extinct in the wild species
891:
849:
687:
565:
442:where it has been released as part of an
310:. From 2009 to 2010, Parks Australia and
820:; Blom, Mozes P. K.; Cogger, Harold G.;
523:
1195:Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger
617:"On the Reptiles of Christmas Island"
7:
873:
871:
869:
812:
810:
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771:
745:
743:
741:
739:
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711:
709:
707:
657:
655:
607:
605:
603:
512:List of reptiles of Christmas Island
553:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
633:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1888.tb06729.x
279:Christmas Island blue-tailed skink
21:Blue-tailed skink (disambiguation)
14:
790:The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles
668:Conservation Science and Practice
361:. Its diet primarily consists of
721:www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au
385:. It will occasionally eat some
89:
485:is most closely related to the
751:"Saving the Blue-Tailed Skink"
1:
649:, new species, pp. 535–536).
461:Taronga Conservation Society
884:Molecular Ecology Resources
788:; Grayson, Michael (2011).
230:Ablepharus boutonii egeriae
1211:
1190:Reptiles described in 1888
560:: e.T102327291A102327566.
478:Evolutionary relationships
271:blue-tailed shinning-skink
18:
1185:Fauna of Christmas Island
597:www.reptile-database.org.
296:that was once endemic to
217:
210:
191:
184:
86:Scientific classification
84:
62:
53:
44:
35:
30:
662:Emery, Jon-Paul (2021).
45:1900 monograph of three
999:Cryptoblepharus_egeriae
986:Cryptoblepharus_egeriae
972:Cryptoblepharus egeriae
942:Cryptoblepharus egeriae
893:10.1111/1755-0998.13780
802:Cryptoblepharus egeriae
590:Cryptoblepharus egeriae
546:Cryptoblepharus egeriae
440:Cocos (Keeling) Islands
262:Cryptoblepharus egeriae
243:Cryptoblepharus egeriae
195:Cryptoblepharus egeriae
842:10.1098/rsbl.2017.0696
303:Anoplolepis gracilipes
689:10536/DRO/DU:30147604
444:assisted colonization
595:The Reptile Database
450:Conservation efforts
347:snout-to-vent length
886:: 1755–0998.13780.
308:extinct in the wild
71:Extinct in the Wild
56:Conservation status
647:Ablepharus egeriae
538:; Mitchell, N.M.;
221:Ablepharus egeriae
16:Species of reptile
1162:
1161:
1111:Open Tree of Life
934:Taxon identifiers
822:Fisher, Robert N.
798:978-1-4214-0135-5
532:Woinarski, J.C.Z.
420:incubation period
330:, is in honor of
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786:Watkins, Michael
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680:10.1111/csp2.358
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436:Christmas Island
298:Christmas Island
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47:Christmas Island
40:
28:
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1180:Cryptoblepharus
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836:(6): 20170696.
830:Biology Letters
818:Oliver, Paul M.
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494:Cryptoblepharus
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399:breeding season
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343:
320:
246:
245:
233:
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225:Boulenger, 1888
224:
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177:C. egeriae
164:Cryptoblepharus
88:
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69:
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12:
11:
5:
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472:Lister's gecko
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465:Cocos Islands
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324:specific name
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265:, also known
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186:Binomial name
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26:
22:
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883:
833:
829:
801:
789:
758:. Retrieved
754:
724:. Retrieved
720:
671:
667:
646:
624:
620:
613:Boulenger GA
588:
583:
571:. Retrieved
557:
551:
545:
526:
499:
492:
487:
482:
481:
469:
453:
429:
426:Distribution
408:reproduction
396:
393:Reproduction
375:grasshoppers
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176:
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25:
1046:iNaturalist
966:Wikispecies
782:Beolens, Bo
627:: 534–536.
573:18 November
457:Taronga Zoo
359:insectivore
341:Description
312:Taronga Zoo
1169:Categories
536:Cogger, H.
518:References
500:C. egeriae
488:metallicus
483:C. egeriae
412:polygamous
387:vegetation
383:earthworms
277:, and the
1090:102327291
918:257363487
902:1755-098X
804:, p. 81).
698:234078176
641:0370-2774
540:Emery, J.
491:group of
416:oviparous
404:courtship
318:Etymology
294:Scincidae
203:Boulenger
171:Species:
153:Scincidae
109:Kingdom:
103:Eukaryota
1064:11181700
957:Q3005807
951:Wikidata
910:36872490
860:29899126
760:24 March
726:24 March
615:(1888).
587:Species
542:(2017).
506:See also
363:crickets
267:commonly
212:Synonyms
149:Family:
143:Squamata
133:Reptilia
123:Chordata
119:Phylum:
113:Animalia
99:Domain:
76:IUCN 3.1
1129:egeriae
1116:4123645
1103:2509230
1077:1181922
1038:2463625
851:6030605
446:trial.
432:endemic
379:spiders
367:beetles
328:egeriae
289:in the
283:species
281:, is a
269:as the
236:Mertens
205:, 1888)
159:Genus:
139:Order:
129:Class:
74: (
1152:189298
1149:uBio:
1025:815925
916:
908:
900:
858:
848:
796:
696:
639:
381:, and
334:Egeria
291:family
287:lizard
273:, the
251:, 1974
238:, 1931
1137:SPRAT
1059:IRMNG
1051:37170
914:S2CID
694:S2CID
674:(2).
371:flies
249:Greer
1142:1526
1098:NCBI
1085:IUCN
1072:ITIS
1033:GBIF
1012:ZV28
906:PMID
898:ISSN
856:PMID
794:ISBN
762:2022
728:2022
637:ISSN
625:1888
575:2021
558:2017
353:Diet
332:HMS
322:The
1020:EoL
1007:CoL
994:AFD
981:ADW
888:doi
846:PMC
838:doi
800:. (
684:hdl
676:doi
629:doi
593:at
562:doi
434:to
285:of
1171::
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1126::
1124:RD
1113::
1100::
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1074::
1061::
1048::
1035::
1022::
1009::
996::
983::
968::
953::
912:.
904:.
896:.
882:.
868:^
854:.
844:.
834:14
832:.
828:.
809:^
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770:^
753:.
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692:.
682:.
670:.
666:.
654:^
635:.
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602:^
556:.
550:.
534:;
467:.
422:.
377:,
373:,
369:,
365:,
337:.
326:,
247:—
234:—
920:.
890::
862:.
840::
764:.
730:.
700:.
686::
678::
672:3
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643:.
631::
577:.
564::
548:"
544:"
496:,
201:(
78:)
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
