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Tuatara... The Living Fossil
Rare Survivors from New Zealand

The tuatara has virtually remained the same for over 140 million years. The tuatara is part of the family Rhynchocephalia Rhyncho=beak cephalia=head Beakheads appeared over 220 million years ago during the Triassic period. All... except for the tuatara, became extinct about 60 million years ago.

Due to their inactive life style, the tuataras require very little food. Unlike other reptiles, the tuatara thrives in cooler temperatures. They are slow growing and can live over 100 years. They lay 6 to 15 eggs at one time. These eggs may take over one year to hatch.

Tuatara-body.jpg - 54045 Bytes

We found the Tuatara at the Toledo Zoo in Ohio
... they are working in a cooperative research effort with Dallas Zoo, Wellington Zoo, and the Government of New Zealand.

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