Monsoon Season

The  Tuatara, New Zealand’s

“Dinosaur”

Introduction:

Northern Tuataras are just one of the many endangered species around the world.  They’re numbers have declined quickly due to the increasing population of rats on the few islands that they dwell on.  Tuataras are reptiles, their scientific name is Sphenodon Punctatus Punctatus.  The nickname Tuatara means “Spiny Back” in Maori.

Appearance:

            Tuataras are covered from head to tail in gray, greenish or brick red scales.  Each gender has a spiny ridge down their back and tail, but the male’s is considerably larger than the female’s.  The male is two ft long and weighs about  two lbs; the female is 1 ½ ft long and weighs half as much as the male.

Where:

            Tuataras live on a few islands off the coast of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plenty.  They are nocturnal and come out only at night.  During the day they sleep (occasionally you’ll catch one basking in the sun) in burrows dug by seabirds; the seabirds no longer live there though, for the tuatara may get hungry and eat the babies.

Food:

            Tuataras have small sharp teeth to catch and kill prey.  They eat many insects, amphibians, snails, birds and bird eggs.  Believe it or not, some tuataras are cannibals. 

Babies:

A female tuatara may lay up to fifteen eggs.  It takes more than a year for the babies to develop in the egg, longer than any other reptile!  When they hatch, they are only three inches long.

No Way!

            A tuatara’s tail comes off easily if grabbed.  This is a handy trait when a hungry predator is around, plus it’s virtually painless.  The tuatara just grows another tail.  Tuataras can live up to 200 years old; there’s one at the British museum named Henry.  He is 111 years old and has just become a father for the first time.  As babies, tuataras have a fully functioning third eye, it has a retina, lens and nerve endings.  When the babies grow older, scales grow over the eye, it is now used for sensing time, season or light and dark.  Tuataras can hold their breath for over an hour.

As I read to you this information, did you feel the sudden urge to fly to New Zealand and save this wondrous creature from extinction?  I surely hope you did.  If not I must punish you for completely ignoring what I said, I mean, who wouldn’t feel the urge???

By: Abby Dortch