Orokonui Ecosanctuary/Tuatara
From WikiEducator
Tuatara
From creation stories to kaitiaki guardians of knowledge
- Tuatara are reptiles endemic to New Zealand
- Tuatara - peaks on back
- Resemble lizards but part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia
- Two species of tuatara are the only surviving members of their order, which flourished around 200 million years ago
- Common ancestor are the squamates (lizards and snakes)
- Two species of tuatara are the only surviving members of their order, which flourished around 200 million years ago
- Tuatara are the only survivor of an ancient group of reptiles that roamed the earth at the same time as dinosaurs
- They haven't changed much in over 225 million years
- Relatives of tuatara died out about 60 million years ago
- They haven't changed much in over 225 million years
- Teeth - attached to jaw bones - 2 rows on top one on bottom
- Nocturnal
- Eyes can focus independently and can see well day and night
- Food
- Tuatara's teeth are not replaced - sharp projections of the jaw bone
- As their teeth wear down, older tuatara have to switch to softer prey such as earthworms, larvae, and slugs
- Eventually chewing food between smooth jaw bones
- As their teeth wear down, older tuatara have to switch to softer prey such as earthworms, larvae, and slugs
- Nostrils inside mouth?
- Loses tail in self defence
- Breaks on vertebra via stress fractures
- Regrows - smaller and sometimes forked!
- Breaks on vertebra via stress fractures
- Tuatara are host to a number of parasites
- Including blood-sucking ticks
- Chigger mites that feed on tissue and lymph (Neotrombicula sphenodonti)
- Blood parasites that live within the blood cells (Haemogregarina tuatarae)
- Intestinal worms (Hatterianema hollandei)
- Blood parasites that live within the blood cells (Haemogregarina tuatarae)
- Chigger mites that feed on tissue and lymph (Neotrombicula sphenodonti)
- Including blood-sucking ticks
- Lay eggs in burrows
- 12-24 months of incubation - without adult assistance
- Often shares burrow with sea birds also eats eggs and chicks!
- 12-24 months of incubation - without adult assistance
- Photoreceptive eye - the "third eye", circadian and seasonal cycles
- Can hear but have no external ears
- The tuatara Sphenodon punctatus has been protected by law since 1895
Tuatara in Maori tradition
- Found in middens
- Appear in cave drawings
- Bones used as awls
- Pendants representing tuatara
- Much carving features tuatara
- To remove tapu from a place a tuatara was killed and then burnt by a tohuka
- A belief that tuatara could enter the human body through orifices
- Snoring risked inviting lizards
Links
- Film -Love In Cold Blood 25mins
