Visit New Zealand

- By Diana Tijoriwalla

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• Indians in NZ
• The Howick Historical Village
• School Levels
• The Treaty of Waitangi.
• Maori Cooking
• Anzac Day 25th April
• Auckland Regional Parks
• Tongariro National Park
• The Buried Village (Rotorua)
• Auckland's Islands
• Paradise Valley Springs (Rotorua)
• MOTAT
• The Polynesian Spa
• Rules for Teachers
• Daffodil Day
• The Waitakere Ranges
• Western Springs Tramway
• Auckland Museum
• New Zealand's Pride
• The Tuatara
• Maungakiekie
• Secondary Schools
• Sir Edmund Hillary
• Halloween
• Auckland Zoo

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The Tuatara

Although the tuatara is very much like a lizard in external appearances, it belongs to a separate group of reptiles, the Rhynchocephalia. From fossil remains we know that rhynchocephalians were in existence over 200 million years ago, & that they occurred in the past in Europe, Asia, North & South America & South & East Africa. However, it appears that they have been extinct everywhere except in New Zealand for about 60 million years.

The tuatara is almost identical in structure with Homoeosaurus, a form known from Upper Jurassic deposits of Europe (about 140 million years ago). The tuatara is known as a ‘living fossil’. The tuatara is closely related to the ancestors of modern lizards, so it is not surprising that it can easily be mistaken for a lizard.

The Maori word tuatara means ‘peaks on the back’, & refers to the triangular folds of skin which form a conspicuous crest along the middle of the back of the male, & a rudimentary crest on the female. The spines are normally soft & pliant, but can be stiffened when the animal is alarmed, making it look very fierce & aggressive.

The tuatara probably arrived in NZ while the country was still attached to a larger land mass- most likely they came overland from South America via Antarctica, while the southern continents formed one large land mass known as Gondwanaland.
The tuatara has no earhole, & the male has no copulatory organ; it has ‘uncinate processes’ on some of the ribs, has complete bars of bone on all sides of 2 large apertures on each side of the skull; & develops a caruncle, or ‘egg-breaker’ to permit the young to escape from the egg. The teeth are set squarely on the surface of the jawbone, & tightly fused with it- a form of attachment known as ‘acrodont’. There is a clear distinction between males & females; males can reach a length of 610mm & a weight of 1,000g but females are shorter, & a good deal lighter with a smaller, narrower head than the male. In colour, they are basically olive-green, though dark pink, or slate grey individuals are often seen. The males have a white blotch below the ear region. The tuatara is probably one of the longest living & slowest growing reptiles in existence.
The tuatara has the ability to shed a portion of its tail as a means of self defence against predators, or attacks by others of its own kind.

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