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10:13pm 07/22/2018 0 3

Robert James ( @robjames42 )

Week 28: Low key Tuatara are most often seen in daytime when it is warm and sunny as, being ectothermic reptiles, they use those conditions to warm themselves. This adult male tuatara @visit_zealandia, however, has been seen frequently recently despite sometimes cool and gloomy winter weather. Introduced to the sanctuary after being missing from mainland New Zealand for around 100 years, tuatara superficially look similar to lizards but they are the last survivors of an ancient Order of reptiles called Sphenodontia (or Rhynchocephalia) and are significantly different to all other living reptiles. Fossilised remains of these animals have been found that are over 200 million years old meaning they roamed the earth at the same time as the dinosaurs. All except tuatara in New Zealand became extinct about 65 million years ago when dinosaurs disappeared. Introduced predators led to their extinction (other than captivity) on mainland New Zealand but survival on offshore islands enabled their release at Zealandia in 2005 and subsequent reproduction in 2009. #artofbirding2018 , #aob2018 , #aob18 , #zealandia , #week28lowkey #straightbacktocatchup