Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SPHENODON, or TUATARA

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 647 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SPHENODON, or TUATARA . Sphenodon s. Halteria (called by See also:Gray after Hatter), with one See also:species, S. punctatum, is the See also:sole surviving member of the whole See also:group of See also:Rhynchocephalia (q.v. under See also:REPTILES, Fossil). It is one of the few reptiles inhabiting New See also:Zealand; formerly See also:common on the See also:main islands, now restricted to some of the small, uninhabited islands in the See also:Bay of Plenty, where these last " living fossils " enjoy the See also:protection of the See also:government. The Maoris See also:call it ruatara, tuatete or tuatara, the latter meaning " having spines." This creature represents an almost ideally generalized type of reptile. The See also:total length of large See also:males is more than two feet, but mature See also:females are scarcely See also:half this See also:size. In See also:general See also:appearance they much resemble the Agamidae, especially Uromastix, or Physignathus, with the massive See also:head, the See also:chisel-shaped front See also:teeth, See also:short legs and erectile See also:crest of cutaneous spines on the head and along the See also:mid-See also:line of the See also:trunk and tail, whilst the See also:rest of the dark See also:olive-See also:green skin is granular, with yellowish specks. But the Agamoid resemblance is only skin-deep, and only the tyro can confound them with any group of Lacertilia. At the same See also:time it is probable that Sphenodon stands near the ancestral See also:root of the Lacertilia, before these divided into geckos, chameleons, and lizards proper. Sthe development of this See also:animal has been first studied by G. B. Howes, who quotes the literature bearing upon the whole subject.

A See also:

good See also:account of the habits of the tuatara has been given by See also:Newman. They live upon animals, but these are only taken when alive and moving about, e.g. See also:fish, See also:worms, See also:insects. Sluggish in their habits, they See also:sleep during the greater See also:part of the See also:day in their self-dug burrows, and are very fond of lying in the See also:water, and they remain below for See also:hours without breathing. Each individual excavates its own hole, a See also:tunnel leading into a roomy chamber, lined with grass and leaves; part of the habitation is shared socially by a See also:family of petrels, which is said to occupy usually the See also:left See also:side, whilst the tuatara itself lives a solitary See also:life. The male croaks or grunts much during the pairing See also:season; the hard-shelled, See also:long-See also:oval eggs, about 28 mm. long, are laid in holes in the See also:sand, about ten in one See also:nest, from See also:November to See also:January or See also:February. They contain nearly ripe embryos in the following See also:August, but they are not hatched until about thirteen months old; in the meantime they seem to undergo a See also:kind of See also:hibernation, their nasal See also:chambers becoming blocked with proliferating epithelium, which is resolved shortly before hatching during the See also:southern summer. In spite of their imposing, rather See also:noble appearance, when, with their heads erect, they calmly look about with their large quiet eyes, they are dull creatures, but they bite furiously. For life See also:history see A. K. Newman, Trans. New Zealand Inst. (1878), x.

222; Von See also:

Haast, ibid. (188,), xiv. 2.76; Reischek, ibid. xiv. 274; A. Dendy,.ibid. (1899), xxxi. 245; Nature, 59, 340, For development; G. B. Howes and H. H. Swinnerton, Trans. Zool.

See also:

Soc. (1900), xv. i—86, six plates; A. Dendy, Quart. Journ. Mic. Sci. (1899), 42, pp. 1—87, ten plates and ibid. pp. 111—153 (parietal See also:eye); H. Schauinsland, See also:Arch. mikr. Anat. (1900), 56, pp.

?47—867, plates. For See also:

anatomy: A. See also:Gunther Phil. Trans. (1867), 157, pp. 595—629, plates; A. K. Newman, quoted above; F. J. See also:Knox, Trans. New Zealand Inst. (1869) ii.

17—20; G. Osawa, Arch. mikr. Anat. (1898), 51, pp. 481—690, and ibid. 52, pp. 268—366. (H. F.

End of Article: SPHENODON, or TUATARA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SPHENE 		[next]
SPHERE (Gr. vclsa?pa, a ball or globe)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries