This is a list of the reptile species recorded on Christmas Island. At the time of human settlement in the late 19th century, the island had five native species of lizard and one native snake. However, additional species were introduced during the 20th century, resulting in dramatic declines in the island's native reptile populations.

Lizards

Christmas Island had five native lizard species at the time of human settlement, although the Christmas Island forest skink (''Emoia nativitatis'') is now considered

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

, and the blue-tailed skink (''Cryptoblepharus egeriae'') and

Lister's gecko ''Lepidodactylus listeri'', also known commonly as Lister's gecko or the Christmas Island chained gecko, is a species of gecko, a lizard in the family Gekkonidae, endemic to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. It is currently extinct in th ...

(''Lepidodactylus listeri'') are

extinct in the wild A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as known only by living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range due ...

. Three additional species were introduced during the 20th century.

Snakes

Christmas Island has one endemic snake species, the

Christmas Island blind snake The Christmas Island blind snake (''Ramphotyphlops exocoeti)'' is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is endemic to Christmas Island. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid. Etymology The specific na ...

(''Ramphotyphlops exocoeti''). The flowerpot blind snake (''Ramphotyphlops braminus'') had been introduced to the island by 1940, and the Oriental wolf snake (''Lycodon capucinus'') was introduced in the 1980s.

Turtles

Green turtles (''Chelonia mydas'') and, more rarely,

hawksbill turtles The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is large ...

(''Eretmochelys imbricata)'' have been documented to nest on Christmas Island. Sea turtle nesting occurs on Dolly Beach, on a small area of sand above the high tide level, and occasionally at Greta Beach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Reptiles Of Christmas Island *rep

Reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

Christmas Island

Lizards

Snakes

Turtles

See also

References