Orokonui Ecosanctuary/Tuatara

=Tuatara= From creation stories to kaitiaki guardians of knowledge Tuatara in Maori tradition Links
 * 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)
 * 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
 * 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
 * Nostrils inside mouth?
 * Loses tail in self defence
 * Breaks on vertebra via stress fractures
 * Regrows - smaller and sometimes forked!
 * 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)
 * Lay eggs in burrows
 * 12-24 months of incubation - without adult assistance
 * Often shares burrow with sea birds also eats eggs and chicks!
 * 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
 * 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
 * Film -Love In Cold Blood 25mins