Summary

Despite its lizard-like appearance the Tuatara is not a lizard. It is a member of a different reptile order, the Rhynchocephalia, which diverged from the order that lizards and snakes belong to (the Squamata) over 250 million years ago. The Rhynchocephalia were diverse while dinosaurs were alive, but today the Tuatara is the only living member of the order.

Tuatara occur only in New Zealand. Today they are naturally found on around 30 islands and also live in a small number of ring-fenced sanctuaries on the mainland where they were widespread before humans arrived. They are New Zealand's largest reptile, with adult males reaching about 50 cm in length and living on average 60 years, though some individuals may reach 100. Tuatara sex is determined by the temperature of the egg during development, with warmer temperatures producing more males. This makes their populations very sensitive to climate change. Unlike many reptiles, Tuatara are more active at low temperatures than higher temperatures, preferring temperatures below 18 degrees Centigrade.

Tuatara are ambush predators, mostly eating invertebrates, including insects such as weta, a type of cricket, as well as worms and spiders but will also eat lizards and seabird chicks and eggs.

Since the 1990s, the eradication of rats and mice, which competed for the same food sources as Tuatara as well as eating their eggs and young, from several islands has significantly reduced or locally halted the decline of Tuatara numbers. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers Tuatara to be of Least Concern. They are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to prevent international trade threatening them with extinction in the wild.

Specimen Details

Taxonomy