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• Cryptic animals (6)
• Lepidosaurs (4)
• Living fossils (18)
• Reptiles of New Zealand (11)
• Vulnerable species (225)

Encyclopedia: Tuatara

The tuatara is a reptile of the family Sphenodontidae, endemic to New Zealand. The two species are the only surviving members of the Sphenodontians who flourished around 200 million years ago.^[1] The tuataras resemble lizards, but are equally related to lizards and snakes, which are their closest living relatives. For this reason, they are of great interest in the study of the evolution of lizards and snakes, and for the reconstruction of the appearance and habits of the earliest diapsids (the group that additionally includes birds and crocodiles).

The tuatara has been classified as an endangered species since 1895. Tuataras, like many of New Zealand's native animals, are threatened by habitat loss and introduced species, such as mustelids and rats. They were extinct on the mainland, with the remaining populations confined to 32 offshore islands,^[2] until the first mainland release into the heavily fenced and monitored Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in 2005.^[3]

Translations

How to say "Tuatara" in other languages:

	(Japanese)	トゥアタラ
	(German)	Brückenechse
	(Spanish)	Tuatara
	(French)	Tuatara
	(Italian)	Sphenodon

Search results

Brothers Island tuatara

The Brothers Island tuatara Sphenodon guntheri is a subspecies of the tuatara occurring naturally only on Brothers Island in Cook Strait. It differs from the tuatara in having olive skin and yellowish patches (compare the tuatara's brown and whitish colouration...

→  read in the encylopedia

Lepidosauria

comprise all the reptiles with overlapping scales such as the tuataras, amphisbaenians, lizards, and snakes...

→  read in the encylopedia

Amniote

��������� Squamata (lizards and snakes) ��������� Sphenodontida (tuatara) ������ Archosauria...

→  read in the encylopedia

Reptile

: Reptilia Orders �Crocodilia - Crocodilians �Rhynchocephalia - Tuataras �Squamata ��Suborder... Rhynchocephalia (tuataras from New Zealand): 2 species Order Squamata (lizards and snakes... crocodiles, alligators, tuataras, lizards, snakes, and turtles, grouped together as the class...

→  read in the encylopedia

List of biological orders

) Crocodilia (Crocodilians) Rhynchocephalia (Tuataras) Squamata (Lizards, Snakes) Testudines...

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Fossil

inarticulate brachiopod, the tuatara lizard, the snout-nosed nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis frog, and the...

→  read in the encylopedia

New Zealand dollar

. (Introduced 1967) 5 Cent Coin - Features the tuatara, a rare reptile native to New Zealand...

→  read in the encylopedia