The typical lizard shape is very common for the early amniotes; the oldest known fossil of a reptile, the Hylonomus, resembles a modern lizard. Tuatara were originally classified as lizards in 1831 when the British Museum received a skull.
The genus remained misclassified until 1867, when Albert Günther of the British Museum noted features similar to birds, turtles, and crocodiles.
guntheri, Buller, 1877), was recognised in 1989, but since 2009 it has been reclassified as a subspecies (S.
An extinct species of Sphenodon was identified in November 1885 by William Colenso, who was sent an incomplete subfossil specimen from a local coal mine.
The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) has been protected by law since 1895.
Williston proposed the Sphenodontia to include only tuatara and their closest fossil relatives in 1925.
guntheri, Buller, 1877), was recognised in 1989, but since 2009 it has been reclassified as a subspecies (S.
Tuatara were extinct on the mainland, with the remaining populations confined to 32 offshore islands until the first North Island release into the heavily fenced and monitored Karori Wildlife Sanctuary (now named "Zealandia") in 2005. During routine maintenance work at Zealandia in late 2008, a tuatara nest was uncovered, with a hatchling found the following autumn.
Tuatara were extinct on the mainland, with the remaining populations confined to 32 offshore islands until the first North Island release into the heavily fenced and monitored Karori Wildlife Sanctuary (now named "Zealandia") in 2005. During routine maintenance work at Zealandia in late 2008, a tuatara nest was uncovered, with a hatchling found the following autumn.
guntheri, Buller, 1877), was recognised in 1989, but since 2009 it has been reclassified as a subspecies (S.
A 2009 paper re-examined the genetic bases used to distinguish the two supposed species of tuatara, and concluded they only represent geographic variants, and only one species should be recognized.
However, a 2020 analysis of the tuatara genome reached the opposite conclusion, that its rate of DNA substitutions per site is actually lower than for any analysed squamate.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05