Tuatara

[deirdre]

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

View attachment 149674

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.

 

[naturecloseups]

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...

 

[deirdre]

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

 

[bilzmale]

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

 

[Ulfric M Douglas]

Yup, definitely a lizard.

 

[deirdre]

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.

 

[phigmov]

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

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/science/23angier.html?_r=1