NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Christmas Island Whiptail-skink
Emoia nativitatis (Boulenger, 1887)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
A monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) London,Printed by order of the Trustees,1900. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36497654
Biodiversity Heritage Library · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Christmas Island forest skink (Emoia nativitatis), also known as the Christmas Island whiptail skink, is an extinct species of skink formerly endemic to Australia's Christmas Island. As of 2017, it is listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List. The last known forest skink, a captive individual named Gump, died on 31 May 2014.
Wikipedia contributors, Christmas Island forest skink; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:18:40.976683+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Emoia nativitatis (Boulenger, 1887)
- Name authority
- (Boulenger, 1887)
- Common name
- Christmas Island Whiptail-skink
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Scincidae
- Genus
- Emoia
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyScincidae
- subfamilyEugongylinae
- genusEmoia
- speciesEmoia nativitatis (Boulenger, 1887)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Emoia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Battersby's Emo SkinkEmoia battersbyi (Procter, 1923) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Great Bight Cool-skink; Baudin’s SkinkEmoia baudini (Duméril & Bibron, 1839) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brongersma's Emo SkinkEmoia brongersmai Brown, 1991 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Copper-tailed SkinkEmoia cyanura (Lesson, 1829) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yellow-throated Emo SkinkEmoia flavigularis Schmidt, 1932 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Allison's Emo SkinkEmoia guttata Brown & Allison, 1986 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Irian Emo SkinkEmoia irianensis Brown, 1991 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kopstein's Emo SkinkEmoia jakati (Kopstein, 1926) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meyer's Emo SkinkEmoia kordoana (Meyer, 1874) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bourret's Emo SkinkEmoia laobaoensis Bourret, 1937 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Loveridge's EmoSkinkEmoia loveridgei Brown, 1953 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Great Emo SkinkEmoia maxima Brown, 1953 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Lygosoma nativitatis Boulenger, 1887 Boulenger, 1887 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Emoia&species=nativitatis Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:39HCP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.