Not the world's greatest shot, granted, but even putting the camera on a railing moved too much in a 3.2 second exposure.



I note that none of the other Zealandia visitor photos showed a Tuatara by night, but there is one photo of one by day.

It's not a lizard, it's the only surviving member of the Sphenodontia order. and a lineage dating back to the Mesozoic.

Thanks to phigmov who suggested a visit to Zealandia, it's definitely worth it.

I have been reading about the Tuatara ever since I was a kid and had grown an interest in natural history.

Speaking of which -- you get all kinds of interesting animals down under on those big islands. I wish I were there sometime...

Well, I'm on vacation. Normally, I'm in the San Francisco area.

I too have been fascinated by the tuatara since a kid and its dinosaur lineage and third eye - at least that's what my childrens' encyclopedia said some 55 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatara

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Bill Shinnick
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Yup, definitely a lizard.

Actually, technically tuatara isn't a lizard. Lizards are a part of Lacertilia and tuataras are not, but are instead under Sphenodontia. The tuatara is the only remaining living genus from Sphenodontia.

Saw this appear over at the New York Times about the oddities around the Tuatara -

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/sc...gier.html?_r=1