Tuatara

Tuatara

The Tuatara is famous because it is the only survivor of an ancient group of reptiles that roamed the earth at the same time as the dinosaurs. It hasn’t changed much in over 225 million years!

Tuatara live on special islands to protect them from predators like cats, rats, stoats, ferrets, wild dogs and weasels. Tuatara are found in NZ native bush on the islands. They sometimes shares burrows with birds and other small animals. They are cold blooded so don't mind the cold but like to bask in warm places.

Tuatara eat a lot of things so this is just a little bit of what they eat. They eat flies, cicadas, caterpillars, worms, geckos, skinks, small fish, raw liver, steak, meal worms, grasshoppers and newborn mice. Tuatara don’t eat like us, instead of moving their jaw up and down like humans they move their jaw side to side grinding the food they're eating.  

Tuatara are reptiles, but they’re not lizards. They are native to New Zealand so that means they are only found in NZ. Some people call them a living fossil.Tuatara were around with the dinosaurs and the word Tuatara is a maori word meaning spiny back and guess why. They are called spiny back because the Tuatara have a spiny back. Adult Tuatara are between 30 and 75cm long, and weigh between 250 and 1,200 grams. Males are much larger than females.

Tuatara were around with the dinosaurs and so that is why they are called a living

fossil.

By Greta:)