Reptiles of New Zealand

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 31. Chapters: Auckland green gecko, Black-eyed gecko, Chatham Islands skink, Chevron Skink, Cloudy gecko, Copper skink, Duvaucel's gecko, Falla's skink, Fiordland skink, Forest gecko, Geckos of New Zealand, Gold-striped gecko, Grand skink, Hardy's skink, Harlequin gecko, Hoplodactylus, Hoplodactylus maculatus, Hoplodactylus pacificus, Jewelled gecko, Lampropholis delicata, Lewis Pass green gecko, Long-toed skink, Macgregor's skink, Marbled skink, Marlborough green gecko, Mokohinau skink, Moko skink, Narrow-Bodied Skink, Naultinus, Nelson green gecko, New Zealand striped skink, Northland green gecko, Oligosoma, Open Bay Islands skink, Ornate skink, Otago skink, Robust skink, Rough gecko, Scree skink, Shore skink, Sinbad skink, Slight skink, Small-eared skink, Small-Scaled Skink, Southern Skink, Speckled Skink, Stephen's Island gecko, Suter's skink, Takitimu gecko, Tuatara, Wellington green gecko, West Coast green gecko, Whitaker's skink. Excerpt: The tuatara is a reptile that is endemic to New Zealand which, though it resembles most lizards, is part of a distinct lineage, order Rhynchocephalia. The two species of tuatara are the only surviving members of its order, which flourished around 200 million years ago. Their most recent common ancestor with any other extant group is with the squamates (lizards and snakes). For this reason, tuatara 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 also includes birds, dinosaurs, and crocodiles). Tuatara are greenish brown and gray, and measure up to 80 cm (31 in) from head to tail-tip and weigh up to 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) with a spiny crest along the back, especially pronounced in males. Their dentition, in which two rows of teeth in the upper jaw overlap one row on the lower jaw, is unique among living species. They are further unusual in having a pronounced photoreceptive eye dubbed the "third eye", whose current function is a subject of ongoing research, but is thought to be involved in setting circadian and seasonal cycles. They are able to hear, although no external ear is present, and have a number of unique features in their skeleton, some of them apparently evolutionarily retained from fish. Although tuatara are sometimes called "living fossils", recent anatomical work has shown they have changed significantly since the Mesozoic era. The name "tuatara" derives from the M¿ori language, and means "peaks on the back". As with many other M¿ori loanwords, the plural form is now generally the same as the singular in formal New Zealand English usage. "Tuataras" remains common in less formal speech, particularly among older speakers. The tuatara has been protected by law since 1895; the second species, S. guntheri, was not recognised until 1989. Tuatara, like many of New Zealand's native animals, are threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators,