Christmas Island Blue Tailed Skink / Photograph Me In My World

This is the Christmas Island Blue Tailed Skink, Cryptoblepharus egeriae, which now extinct in the wild.

An Australian reptile, this skink was native to Christmas Island. Its bright blue tail pops off when scared. They are born with dark black bodies with yellow stripes that meet the blue tail. Males lose their yellow stripes and their back turns a brown/black with red under the neck for mating season. Females keep their blue tail for life. They have a snake like head and have the “tongue flicking” action of snakes.

This was part of a solo exhibition in which I painted twenty portraits of twenty Australian native animals that are disappearing - a tiny selection of the 10,000+ species worldwide that are extinct or facing extinction. To add accuracy and relevancy you will find a guide on the right hand panel of each of these artworks. The line indicates the size of the animal and a circle with capital letters alongside it will state is classification categorised by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Painted with acrylic on a wood panel. It measures 25cm x 40cm x 4cm. It is signed and dated and will have a certificate of authentication.