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Inserted a summary of the history of the blue tailed skink, when it was discovered and when it became endangered. |
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'''''Cryptoblepharus egeriae''''', the '''Christmas Island blue-tailed shining-skink''', ''' blue-tailed skink''', or '''Christmas Island blue-tailed skink''', is a [[species]] of [[skink]], a [[lizard]] native to [[Australia]]'s [[Christmas Island]], and is not closely related to the ''[[Plestiodon]]'' skinks of [[North America]], whose juveniles are known for their blue tails. It is relatively small with a black body with yellow stripes going to a bright blue tail. It is currently [[extinct in the wild]].
The Christmas Island Blue-Tailed Skink was discovered in 1886<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boulenger |first=G. A. |date=2009-08-20 |title=On the Reptiles of Christmas Island |url=https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1888.tb06729.x |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=534–536 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1888.tb06729.x |issn=0370-2774}}</ref>. In 2002 scientists with the Christmas Island National Parks discovered that species of ants called ''Anoplolepis gracilipes'' (yellow crazy ant) were becoming a threat to the Christmas Island Blue-Tailed Skink<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Yellow crazy ant biocontrol |url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/christmas/discover/nature/conservation/yellow-crazy-ant-biocontrol/ |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=parksaustralia.gov.au |language=en-au}}</ref>. Since their introduction in 1980 the yellow crazy ants had started to disrupt the biodiversity on Christmas Island<ref name=":0" />. This discovery put the Christmas Island Blue-Tailed Skink on the endangered animals list<ref>{{Cite web |title=Options beyond captivity for two critically endangered Christmas Island reptiles |url=https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/projects/options-beyond-captivity-for-two-critically-endangered-christmas-island-reptiles#:~:text=The%20blue-tailed%20skink%20(Cryptoblepharus,rapidly%20from%20the%20late%201980s. |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au}}</ref>. By 2009 Taronga Zoo decided to start an active breeding program in hopes of being able to release some of the skinks back into the wild<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saving the Blue-Tailed Skink |url=http://www.taronga.org.au/media-release/2019-09-12/saving-blue-tailed-skink |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=Saving the Blue-Tailed Skink {{!}} Taronga Conservation Society Australia |language=en}}</ref>. However, by 2010 the Christmas Island Blue-Tailed Skink was extinct in the wild.
==Etymology==
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