Cryptoblepharus egeriae: Difference between revisions

'''''Cryptoblepharus egeriae''''', also known [[Common name|commonly]] as the '''blue-tailed shinning-skink''', the '''Christmas Island blue-tailed shinning-skink''', and the '''Christmas Island blue-tailed skink''', is a [[species]] of [[lizard]] in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Scincidae]] that was once endemic to [[Christmas Island]]. The Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was discovered in 1888.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |author=Boulenger GA|author-link=George Albert Boulenger |date=1888 |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=1888 |issue= |pages=534–536 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1888.tb06729.x |issn=0370-2774}} (''Ablepharus egeriae'', new species, pp. 535–536).</ref> 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 the introduction of the yellow crazy ant (''[[yellow crazy ant|Anoplolepis gracilipes]]'') in the mid-1980s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Emery |first=Jon-Paul |date=2021 |title=The lost lizards of Christmas Island: A retrospective assessment of factors driving the collapse of a native reptile community |url=https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.358 |journal=Conservation Science and Practice |volume=3 |issue=2}}</ref>. By 2006, the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was on the endangered animals list,<ref name=":2">{{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> and by 2010 the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was [[extinct in the wild]]. From 2009-2010, parks Australia and [[Taronga Zoo]] started a captive breeding program, which has prevented total extinction of the species.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Saving the Blue-Tailed Skink |url=http://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>

The Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Christmas Island]] until the late 1990s when it could be found all over the island .<ref name=":5" />. It currently exists in captive populations on Christmas Island, at Taronga Zoo, and on a small island (Pulu Blan) in the [[Cocos (Keeling) Islands]] where it has been released as part of an assisted colonization trial .<ref name=":3" />.