Tuatara Hatchling Spotted in New Zealand
March 19th 2009 16:04
The Tuatara is a pretty rare reptile that has a dinosaur lineage. I remember a teacher in school referred to them as living dinosaurs. Well, there are about 50,000 of them living on 32 small offshore islands, but it's been about 200 years since anyone has spotted a hatchling.
They've found one, which means where there is one hatchling, there are probably others. This baby Tuatara was discovered by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington. Everyone is thrilled with the discovery, as it means they have successfully reinstated the breeding population to the mainland. This is a pretty big breakthrough for the conservation.
Tuataras grow to about 32 inches in length and can live about 100 years. They are the descendants of lizard-like reptiles that walked the Earth with the dinosaurs about 225 million years ago.
And, due to the introduction of rats and other predators, the New Zealand population of Tautara has diminished greatly.
This little hatchling is thought to be about a month old, and probably hatched from an egg that was laid about 16 months ago. They did find two nests of eggs that were unearthed in the sanctuary last year, so in a way they were hopefully expecting to find Tuatara hatchlings around this time
This little Tuatara baby will have a hard life as it has a long journey to maturity fighting through the 620 acres on the sanctuary and hiding from predators such as birds of prey and even adult Tuatara, who are cannibalistic. The hatchling won't have it easy, and he'll have to fight for survival like all the other animals on the sanctuary.
The sanctuary has released about 200 Tuatara into the wild since 2005, which was initially established to breed native birds, insects, and other creatures.
About the Tuatara:
* They have two rows of top teeth and and one row on the bottom.
* They have a parietal eye that is covered by scales, and is thought to be light-sensitive.
* The "third eye" is thought to help the reptile absorb UV rays and manufacture Vitamin D.
* It takes a juvenile Tuatara about 13 to 20 years to reach sexual maturity.
* They live about 100 years.
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