Reptile animal tuatara. Tuatara. The lifestyle and habitat of the tuatara. Endemic to New Zealand
There are people who are either not familiar with the hatteria, or mistakenly consider this type of reptile to be lizards, but this is absolutely not the case.
Meet tuatara or the second name of the reptile tuatara- a reptile that survived the era of dinosaurs. In New Zealand, there are islands in the northern part, the coasts of which are rocky surfaces.
These islands are connected by a small strait connecting the North and South Islands. In this not very cozy place of the earth inhabit reptiles - three-eyed tuatara, forming order beakheads.
It should be noted that the view from the islands on which tuatara live gloomy. Thick fogs shroud the islands on all sides, and cold leaden waves break on the rocky shores. The flora in these places is scarce, and there are few vertebrate reptiles and birds in this area.
At this time, all animals, including domestic ones, were taken out of the islands, and most of the rodents were destroyed, which caused great damage by eating the eggs of the hatteria and the young offspring of the tuatara.
Currently, the New Zealand government has taken under the protection of amazing reptiles, which are called " living fossils". As a result, it was possible to stop the extinction of these species of reptiles and increase their numbers.
Today, the population of tuatara has at least 100 thousand individuals. A zoo in Australia has joined this movement and now you can also see interesting animals on its territory dating back to the time of dinosaurs.
To the question: " Why is the tuatara called a living fossil?? The experts say that tuatara has the right to be called living fossil, and all because the reptile belongs to the relic species of reptiles, whose age is more than 200 million years.
In appearance, the tuatara remotely resembles an iguana. Their internal structure is similar to that of a snake, something is taken from turtles and crocodiles, there are even elements of fish and, most surprisingly, they have organs, the structure of which was in the oldest species of dinosaurs.
From major representatives tuatara lizards, first of all, is distinguished by the unique structure of the skull. An interesting feature is the jaw located at the top, the sky and the upper part of the skull.
The described parts of the reptile can move separately from the inner part of the skull, where the brain of the tuatara is located. On this photo tuatara can be seen and compared with lizard.
Even the male cannot boast of body size, because tuatara — animal the size from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose is only 0.7 meters, and the mass does not exceed 1000 g.
On the back, along the ridge runs a crest, consisting of triangular plates. What is interesting is that it was this crest that gave the name "tuatara", because in translation this word means "prickly".
In the photo, the third eye of the tuatara
Body animal covers the scales of a greenish hue with an admixture of gray, also in tuatara there are paws that, although short, are very powerful and have a long tail. A distinctive feature of the tuatara is the presence of a third eye - the parietal eye, located in the occipital region. On the a photo, where an adult poses, you can see the unique structure tuatara.
Just do not try to see the third eye in the photo of an adult reptile, because this organ can only be clearly seen in cubs. The third eye in appearance looks like a small spot, surrounded on all sides by scales, but the unusual eye has a lens, and there are cells in the structure that react to light, but the organ does not have muscles to help focus the position.
When young tuatara grow up, their third eye is covered with skin and cannot be seen. As a result of numerous experiments, experts came to the conclusion that the third eye is an organ that is not visual, but it is capable of perceiving heat and light radiation.
The nature and lifestyle of the hatteria
Tuatara- a reptile leading a nocturnal lifestyle. Actively behaves at temperatures not higher than +8 ºС. All metabolic processes and life cycles for all types of tuatara, which, by the way, only two occur slowly, even breathing in reptiles is slow - at least 7 seconds pass between inhalation and exhalation.
Hatteria will not die even if it does not take a single breath for 60 minutes. Beakhead tuatara they are not indifferent to water, they are very fond of water procedures. It should be noted that they are excellent swimmers. But the runners of them are useless, short legs are not provided for marathons.
Tuatara is a unique reptile that can make sounds. The night silence of the hatteria habitats is often broken by their hoarse voices. An interesting feature of this species reptile thing is tuatara arranges for himself a dwelling in the nests of petrels - birds that inhabit the islands of New Zealand.
Birds, of course, are unhappy with such impudent behavior of reptiles, but they have no choice but to give up housing to them and get out. Initially, experts believed that the cohabitation of birds and tuatara is possible, but after observations it became clear that reptiles devastate nests of petrels during the nesting period.
Tuatara nutrition
As mentioned earlier, the tuatara is inactive during the day, and it hides from predators during the daytime. With the onset of night, the hatteria goes hunting. diet detachment beakheads includes snails, various types of insects, earthworms, and sometimes tuatara allows himself to taste the meat of young petrel chicks, which happens infrequently.
Reproduction and lifespan of tuatara
The entire winter period - from the middle of the first spring month to the middle of August, beakheads spend in hibernation. In the spring, this species of reptiles begins the breeding season.
It is worth recalling that the height of the mating season is, by our standards, in January, but in New Zealand, spring comes at this time. A reptile becomes sexually mature by the age of 20, almost like our people.
A pregnant female walks for almost 10 months. The female is capable of laying up to 15 eggs. She carefully buries her eggs in burrows and leaves them there for the entire incubation period, which lasts 15 months. Such a period is no longer characteristic of any known species of reptile.
The biological feature, which consists in the slow pace of life processes, allows the hatteria to live for a long time. Very often, these reptiles live up to a centenary.
The secret of longevity is that reptiles lead a measured lifestyle, they apparently have nowhere to rush, and living conditions on the shores of New Zealand probably also extend the life cycle of interesting and unusually unique reptile species that survived the era of dinosaurs.
In New Zealand, on small rocky islands to the north of it and in the strait between the North and South Islands, lives a creature older than some Jurassic giant lizards. This is the famous three-eyed reptile - tuatara.
These reptiles appeared about 200 million years ago and have not changed a bit since then. That is, in front of you you see a real “living fossil”.
"Living Fossil" 
At first glance, the hatteria looks like an ordinary large lizard, or rather, an iguana. The length of her body is 65-75 centimeters, this is together with the tail. It is colored olive green or greenish gray, and yellow spots of various sizes can be seen on the sides of the body and on the limbs. Like iguanas, along its back, from the back of the head to the tail, there is a low crest, consisting of triangular plates. Thanks to him, the reptile received another name, but already from the local residents of the Maiori - tuatara, which means "prickly".
"Barbed" 
young tuatara
But it's not a lizard. Her special structure of the body, and especially the head, did not fit the description of any of the then existing units of the class of reptiles. Therefore, in the second half of the 19th century, a special detachment was established for the hatteria - beak-headed (lat. Phynchocephalia).
The fact is that in the structure of the skull of the hatteria there is one feature - in young individuals, the upper jaw, roof of the skull and palate are mobile relative to the braincase. This phenomenon is called skull kinetics. As a result, the anterior end of the upper jaw can be slightly bent down and pulled back with complex movements of other parts of the skull. Terrestrial vertebrates inherited this phenomenon from lobe-finned fish, their very distant ancestors. But the kinetism of the skull is inherent not only in tuatara, but also in some species of lizards and snakes.
Tuatara skull Tuatara is special in every way. In addition to the unusual internal structure of the skull and skeleton, the special attention of zoologists is attracted by the presence of a peculiar organ in it - the parietal (or third) eye in the back of the head. It is most noticeable in young individuals. The eye looks like a bare spot surrounded by scales. This organ has light-sensitive cells and a lens, but it lacks the muscles to focus the location of the eye. Over time, it overgrows, and in adults it is already difficult to see it. So what is it for?
sleeping tuatara Its purpose has not yet been precisely clarified, but it is assumed that with its help the lizard can determine the level of light and heat, which helps the animal control its stay in the sun. Thanks to this, she can regulate her body temperature.
Slow metabolism and slow life processes are another feature of its biology. Because of this, it grows and develops very slowly. The tuatara reaches sexual maturity only by 15-20 years, and its life expectancy is about 100 years. I immediately remembered another long-liver of the animal world - which, to our surprise, does not have a slow metabolism, but can easily live for a century.
dwelling 
The next feature of the tuatara lies in its cohabitation on islands with gray petrels. Reptiles settle in their nests, which causes discontent among the birds. Initially, it was believed that they could exist peacefully and friendly with each other, but it turned out that sometimes tuatara ruin their nests during the breeding season. Although the hatteria still prefers other prey, in search of which it goes at night. It feeds on earthworms, snails, insects and spiders, but, as it turned out, sometimes a new dish is added to this menu - the meat of a young bird.
At the height of summer, which begins in January in the Southern Hemisphere, the breeding process begins in the hatteria. After 9-10 months, the female lays 8-15 eggs, which are buried in small minks. The incubation period is very long - 15 months, which is unusual for other reptiles.
Tuatara egg 
Due to its importance to science and its limited habitat, the tuatara is protected. On all the islands where it lives, a reserved regime has been introduced for about 100 years. All dogs, pigs and cats were taken out from there, rodents were destroyed, as they caused serious damage to the population of this “living fossil”, destroying their eggs and juveniles. Visiting these islands is now possible only by special invitation, and violators face imprisonment.
If you think that the hatteria or tuatara (lat. Sphenodon punctatus) is just another one of the lizards, you are deeply mistaken! In fact, it is so unusual that a separate detachment was created for it back in the 19th century - beakheads (lat. Phynchocephalia).
Tuatara differs from large lizards, first of all, in the structure of its unusual skull. The upper jaw, palate, and roof of the skull of young tuatara are movable in relation to the braincase. Those. with complex movements, the anterior tip of the upper jaw is bent down and slightly retracted.
In addition, tuatars can boast of having a third (parietal) eye located in the back of the head. Just don't try to find it in photographs of adults! The fact is that this amazing organ is clearly visible only in newborn babies. It is a bare spot, surrounded on all sides by scales. The third eye is equipped with a lens and light-sensitive cells, but the organ does not have muscles that could help focus its position. With age, the eye becomes overgrown with skin.
Its exact purpose, unfortunately, is still unknown. It is assumed that it is needed to determine the level of illumination and ambient air temperature so that the tuatara can control its stay in the sun. She, like all reptiles, loves to bask on warm rocks.
Tuatara lives on the small islands of New Zealand. Previously, these unusual reptiles were also found on the two main islands - North and South. However, they were destroyed by the Maori tribes who settled here in the 16th century. Today, tuatars are protected as an endangered species. For their sake, all feral dogs, cats and pigs were evicted from the islands, and rodents were also destroyed. Access to these islands is possible only with special permission. Violators are waiting, neither more nor less, imprisonment. This is how they take care of this strange reptile!
Such care is not surprising, given that the tuatara is the oldest species that has managed to maintain its original appearance since its appearance on our planet. And this happened about 200 million years ago. A real living fossil!
The body length of the male, together with the tail, can reach 65 cm and weigh about 1 kg. The body length of females is somewhat shorter, and their weight is almost two times less. A small crest runs along the back, which consists of triangular plates. It was he who gave the name to the species: "tuatara" in translation means "prickly".
Hatterias settle right in the nests of gray petrels. During the day, they hide here from predators, while the birds fly around the area in search of food, and at night they themselves leave for prey, giving way to the owners of the nest. They do not pay very well for "hospitality": during the breeding season of birds, tuatars sometimes eat their chicks. Although much more often they feed on insects, snails and spiders.
Tuataria live for about 100 years. They have such a slow metabolism and so much slowed down life processes that they develop for a very long time. For example, pregnancy in females lasts from 8 to 10 months, and the period of incubation of laid eggs lasts as much as 15 months. Tuatars reach sexual maturity only by 15 or even 20 years. In general, they are in no hurry. Maybe this is the secret of longevity?
Who is called the "prehistoric monster" or Hatteria (lat. Sphenodon punctatus) - the only one of its kind.
From the Permian cotilosaurs, a group of reptiles originated, in which the evolution of the skull followed the path of reduction (simplification of the structure, in this case, lightening the weight of the skull due to the formation of temporal pits).
This is how the diapsid group arose, which includes two subclasses - lepidosaurs and archosaurs. Lepidosaurs from modern reptiles include a numerical series of scaly ones and the only representative of the ancient branch of reptiles - tuatara. It is both a species, a genus, and a family, as well as a number of beak-headed or proboscis-headed ones.
Tuatara or tuatara is a rare animal with a scientifically very interesting body structure. It has so many qualities of primitive organization, in common with the reptiles that lived in the Permian and early Triassic, that it is called a living fossil. Outwardly, the tuatara is similar to a large lizard. The length of her body reaches 75 cm. On the back of her head, as well as along her back and tail, she has a crest, consisting of sharp plates - spikes. Hence its second name - tuatara. In the language of the Maori - the indigenous people of New Zealand - this means: "the one that carries the thorns."
The body of the tuatara is massive, the five-fingered limbs are horizontally located, the tail is long, trihedral. The head is quite large, on its sides are large eyes with vertical pupils. The body is covered with scales of various sizes, and there are quadrangular scutes on the ventral side. The coloration is olive green with small white and large yellow spots. The color of the crest on the back is light yellow, and on the tail is brown. For its 165 million. The hatteria hasn't changed much over the years.
By way of life, these are nocturnal animals, only in the evening they leave their holes to bask in the sun. They get food at night. They feed mainly on insects, molluscs and worms, and if the opportunity presents itself, then lizards and small birds. An amazing property of heteria is their ability to remain active at sufficiently low temperatures (6-18 ° C). Therefore, their winter sleep is not strong, and on sunny days they wake up and even come out of their holes.
Tuataria begin to breed only at the age of 20. Mating takes place in January. Males at this time vigorously defend their individual sites. To make a proper impression on the opponents and the partner, they raise the crest and spikes on their backs. If the tuatara is in danger, it also “bristles”. During the mating season, males fight fiercely for the right to mate with the female. Often they inflict serious damage on each other. After some time, around October-December, the female lays her eggs.
Further growth and development of young animals is also a very long process. Hard-shelled eggs in the amount of 9-17 are buried in burrows. The female guards the clutch from other females and makes sure that they do not lay their eggs there. The hole is located in an open place, which is well warmed up by the rays of the sun. Egg development lasts approximately 12-15 months, this is the longest incubation period in reptiles. Before hatching, the young grow a hard, horny tooth on their muzzle, with which they pierce the soft shell of the egg. Tuataria grow very slowly.
The government of New Zealand, where they live, is doing everything possible to save these rare reptiles. It is strictly forbidden not only to catch live, but also to pick up dead animals, which are a valuable find for zoologists, because tuatara live for a very long time (up to 100 years), and therefore the opportunity to study their internal structure is rare. It is believed that the first settlers from Polynesia who once settled in New Zealand hunted for meat, which, however, as in many similar cases, did not pose a serious threat to these reptiles, and their numbers were approximately constant.
The real danger for these amazing creatures arose after the Europeans appeared on the islands and brought their pets with them. By that time, perhaps the absence of natural enemies contributed to the conservation of this species. So, the hatteria could not resist dogs, cats and pigs. These domestic animals hunted the gerbils and ate their eggs. And within a very short period of time, the populations of the Gatherians that lived on the North and South Islands disappeared. The next threat are rabbits brought from Europe. They eat grass and destroy the habitats of many species of insects that tuatara feed on.
The habitats of the hatteria suffered not only destruction, but also strong changes. The islands where this ancient lizard lives are declared nature reserves. Now this species has the status of a vulnerable species and is listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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This is the only modern representative of the order of beak-headed reptiles. Outwardly similar to a lizard. Along the back and tail there is a crest of triangular scales. Lives in burrows up to 1 m deep. Before the arrival of the Maori and Europeans, it inhabited the North and South Islands of New Zealand, but by the end of the 19th century it was exterminated there; preserved only on nearby islands in a special reserve. It is in the Red Book of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Successfully bred at the Sydney Zoo.
Animals similar to the hatteria - homeosaurs - lived 140 million years ago in that part of our planet that has become Europe today.
From the famous English navigator James Cook, the Europeans learned that in New Zealand there is "a gigantic lizard up to two and a half meters long and as thick as a man." She supposedly "attacks sometimes even people and devours them." It must be said that Cook's story contains some exaggerations. The length of the tuatara together with the tail (male) is at most 75 cm (weight about a kilogram), and the tuatara does not hunt a person, but is content with more modest prey - insects, earthworms, sometimes lizards.
The Europeans, who followed Cook's footsteps to New Zealand, almost put an end to the history of beakheads, which is over 200 million years old. More precisely, not they themselves, but rats, pigs and dogs that arrived along with people. These animals exterminated the juveniles of the tuatara and ate its eggs. As a result, the hatteria almost disappeared. Now the hatteria is taken under strict protection: whoever catches or kills this animal runs the risk of going to jail. Few zoos in the world can boast tuatara in their collections. The famous English naturalist Gerald Durrell managed to get the offspring of tuatara in his zoo, which he was presented with by the New Zealand government. Thanks to environmental protection measures by the end of the 70s. In the 20th century, the number of tuatara increased slightly and reached 14 thousand copies, which brought these animals out of danger of extinction.
For an uninitiated person, the hatteria (Sphenodon punctatus) is simply a large, imposing lizard. Indeed, this animal has greenish-gray scaly skin, short strong paws with claws, a crest on the back, consisting of flat triangular scales, like agam and iguanas (the local name for tuatara - tuatara - comes from the Maori word for "spiky ”), and a long tail.
However, the hatteria is not a lizard at all. The features of its structure are so unusual that a special detachment was established for it in the class of reptiles - Rhynchocephalia, which means "beak-headed" (from the Greek "rynchos" - beak and "kephalon" - head; an indication of the premaxilla bending down).
True, this did not happen immediately. In 1831, the famous zoologist Gray, having only the skulls of this animal, gave it the name Sphenodon. After 11 years, a whole copy of the tuatara fell into his hands, which he described as another reptile, giving it the name Hatteria punctata and referring it to lizards from the agam family. It wasn't until 30 years later that Gray established that Sphenodon and Hatteria were one and the same. But even before that, in 1867, it was shown that the similarity of the hatteria with lizards is purely external, and in terms of the internal structure (primarily the structure of the skull), Tuatara stands completely apart from all modern reptiles.
And then it turned out that the tuatara, now living exclusively on the islands of New Zealand, is a “living fossil”, the last representative of the once common group of reptiles that lived in Asia, Africa, North America and even Europe. But all other beakheads died out in the early Jurassic, and the tuatara managed to survive for almost 200 million years. It is amazing how little its structure has changed over this vast period of time, while lizards and snakes have reached such a variety.
A very interesting feature of the tuatara is the presence of a parietal (or third) eye that fits on the top of the head between two real eyes. Its function has not yet been elucidated. This organ has a lens and a retina with nerve endings, but is devoid of muscles and any adaptations for accommodation, or focusing. In a tuatara cub that has just hatched from an egg, the parietal eye is clearly visible - like a naked speck surrounded by scales that are arranged like flower petals. Over time, the "third eye" is overgrown with scales, and in adult tuatara it can no longer be seen. As experiments have shown, the tuatara cannot see with this eye, but it is sensitive to light and heat, which helps the animal to regulate body temperature, dosing the time spent in the sun and in the shade.
However, all vertebrates have a similar formation in the upper part of the brain, only it is hidden under the skull.
As excavations show, not so long ago, tuatara were found in abundance on the main islands of New Zealand - North and South. But the Maori tribes who settled in these places in the 14th century significantly reduced the number of Tuatars. An important role was played in this by animals that arrived with people, which are not characteristic of the fauna of New Zealand. True, some scientists believe that the hatteria died due to changes in climatic conditions. Until 1870, it was still found on the North Island, but at the beginning of the 20th century it was already preserved on only 20 small islands, of which 3 are located in the Cook Strait, and the rest off the northeast coast of the North Island.
The view of these islands is gloomy - cold leaden waves break on the rocky shores shrouded in mist. The already sparse vegetation was badly damaged by sheep, goats, pigs and other wild animals. Now, every single pig, cat, and dog has been removed from the islands where the Tuatara populations have survived, and the rodents have been exterminated. All these animals caused great damage to tuatarams, eating their eggs and juveniles. Of the vertebrates on the islands, only reptiles and numerous sea birds remained, arranging their colonies here.
Female tuatara are smaller and almost twice as light as males. These reptiles feed on insects, spiders, earthworms and snails. They love water, often lie in it for a long time and swim well. But the tuatara runs badly.
Hatteria is a nocturnal animal, and, unlike many other reptiles, it is active at relatively low temperatures - + 6 ° ... + 8 ° C - this is another interesting feature of its biology. All life processes in the hatteria are slow, the metabolism is low. There is usually about 7 seconds between two breaths, but a tuatara can stay alive without taking a single breath for an hour.
Winter time - from mid-March to mid-August - tuatara spend in burrows, falling into hibernation. In spring, females dig special small burrows, where with the help of their paws and mouth they carry a clutch of 8-15 eggs, each of which is about 3 cm in diameter and is enclosed in a soft shell. From above, the masonry is covered with earth, grass, leaves or moss. The incubation period lasts about 15 months, which is much longer than that of other reptiles.
Tuatara grows slowly and reaches puberty no earlier than 20 years. That is why we can assume that she belongs to the number of outstanding centenarians of the animal world. It is possible that the age of some males exceeds 100 years.
What else is this animal famous for? Tuatara is one of the few reptiles with a real voice. Her sad, hoarse cries can be heard on foggy nights or when someone bothers her.
Another amazing feature of the tuatara is its coexistence with gray petrels, which nest on the islands in self-dug holes. Hatteria often settles in these holes, despite the presence of birds there, and sometimes, apparently, destroys their nests - judging by the finds of chicks with bitten heads. So such a neighborhood, apparently, does not bring great joy to the petrels, although usually birds and reptiles coexist quite peacefully - the tuatara prefers other prey, which it goes in search of at night, and in the daytime the petrels fly into the sea for fish. When the birds migrate, the tuatara hibernates.
The total number of living tuatara is now about 100,000 individuals. The largest colony is located on Stephens Island in the Cook Strait - there, on an area of 3 square meters. km lives 50,000 tuatars - an average of 480 individuals per 1 ha. On small islands less than 10 hectares in size, populations of tuatara do not exceed 5,000 individuals. The New Zealand government has long recognized the value of the amazing reptile for science, and there has been a strict conservation regime on the islands for about 100 years. You can visit them only with special permission, and strict liability is established for violators.
Tuatara are not eaten and their skins are not in commercial demand. They live on remote islands, where there are neither people nor predators, and are well adapted to the conditions existing there. So, apparently, nothing threatens the survival of these unique reptiles at present. They can safely while away their days on secluded islands to the delight of biologists, who, among other things, are trying to figure out the reasons why the tuatara did not disappear in those distant times when all its relatives died out.
Perhaps we should learn from the people of New Zealand and how to protect their natural resources. As Gerald Durrell wrote, “Ask any New Zealander why they guard the tuatara. And they will consider your question simply inappropriate and say that, firstly, this is a one-of-a-kind creature, secondly, zoologists are not indifferent to it, and thirdly, if it disappears, it will disappear forever.