Cryptoblepharus egeriae (BOULENGER, 1889)
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Cryptoblepharus egeriae
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Christmas Island Blue-tailed Shinning-skink G: Weihnachtsinsel-Blauschwanzskink |
| Synonym | Ablepharus egeriae BOULENGER 1889: 535 Ablepharus boutonii egeriae — MERTENS 1931: 169 Ablepharus boutonii egeriae — GIBSON-HILL 1940 Cryptoblepharus egeriae — GREER 1974: 21 Cryptoblepharus egeriae — COGGER 1983: 141 Cryptoblepharus egeriae — COGGER 2000: 728 Cryptoblepharus egeriae — HORNER 2007: 147 Cryptoblepharus egeriae — JAMES et al. 2019 |
| Distribution | Australia (Christmas Islands) Type locality: Christmas Is., Indian Ocean. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Syntypes: BMNH 1946.8.15.86-88 (3) |
| Diagnosis | The only Cryptoblepharus with interparietal distinct from the large, single frontoparietal shield [...] iridescent blue tail is a feature of both sexes and is brightest in juveniles, the intensity of colour diminishing in large adults. (Cogger et al. 1983) Original description: “Snout pointed, rostral not projecting. Eye entirely surrounded with granules; upper eyelid represented by three or four larger scales. Rostral largely in contact with the frontonasal; prefrontals a forming a long suture frontal small, in contact with the first and second supraoculars; five supraoculars, second largest, fifth smallest; seven supraciliaries; interparietal distinct from the very large, single frontoparietal a pair of large nuchals. Ear-opening rather small, oval. Scales smooth or feebly striated, two vertebral rows largest 26 or 28 scales round the middle of the body. Limbs well deve loped, pertadactyle; the hind limb reaches the axilla in the male, the elbow in the female; digits long and slender, smooth inferiorly. Tail once and a half the length of head and body. Bronzy above, with blackish and pale greenish spots a light, dark-edged dorsolateral band; end of tail blue; lower parts greenish white.” (Boulenger 1889) Measurements of the holotype (apparently, as several specimens are mentioned; from Boulenger 1889): Total length: 113 mm Head: 10 mm Width of head: 6 mm Body: 35 mm Fore limb: 17 mm Hind limb: 21 mm Tail: 68 mm Comparisons: Closely allied to A. boutoni, Desj., from which it differs in the distinct interparietal shield. (Boulenger 1889) |
| Comment | Cogger et al (1983) noted “common in household gardens and road-side vegetation between Flying Fish Cove and Rocky Point; basks on stone or brick walls, fences, ornamental trees, shrubs and coconut palms; also seen on fallen tree trunks associated with clearings in primary rainforest”. Conservation: Extinct in the wild fide Tingley et al. 2019. |
| Etymology | Named after HMS Egeria, which visited Christmas Island (1887). |
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