Hatteria is one of a kind. Animals of New Zealand Reptile tuatara

Hatteria hatteria

(tuatara), the only modern representative of the order of beak-headed reptiles. Outwardly similar to a lizard. Length up to 75 cm. Along the back and tail there is a ridge of triangular scales. Lives in burrows up to 1 m deep. Before the arrival of Europeans, it inhabited the northern and southern islands of New Zealand, where end of the 19th century V. was exterminated; preserved on nearby islands in a special reserve. In the IUCN Red List. Successfully bred at Sydney Zoo.

HATTERIA

HATTERIA (tuatara; Sphenodon punctatus), the only species of the genus of the same name in the order Beakheads (cm. beak-headed reptiles) class of reptiles; the oldest of modern reptiles, which appeared in Jurassic period about 165 million years ago. Since then, tuateria has not undergone significant changes and is rightfully called a living fossil. Currently it is found only in New Zealand.
Externally, the hatteria resembles a lizard with big head and a massive body. Body length 65-75 cm. Hatteria is modestly colored: numerous small yellow spots are scattered across a dull olive-green background. A ridge of low triangular horny plates stretches from the back of the head to the tip of the tail.
One of the amazing features of the hatteria is the presence of a parietal, or third eye. It is located on the back of the head and hidden under the skin. In adults it is almost invisible, but in young individuals it looks like the surface of the skin not covered with horny scales. The parietal eye has a layer of light-sensitive cells and something like a lens. It does not function as a full-fledged organ of vision, but is capable of assessing the level of illumination. This allows the hatteria to effectively regulate body temperature by choosing a place and posture depending on the angle of incidence sun rays. Temperature limits for tuateria activity range from 6 to 18 °C. None of modern reptiles not active at this rate low temperatures.
The upper jaw, palate and skull cover of the tuatteria remain mobile throughout its life. Thanks to this, the front end of the upper jaw can be bent down or retracted. This is necessary to securely hold the prey and at the same time absorb the impact of the jaws and jerks of the prey's body. This phenomenon is called cranial kineticism. The special arrangement of the hatteria's teeth also helps retain prey. There are two rows of wedge-shaped teeth on the upper jaw and palatine bone. Another row is located on the lower jaw. When the jaws close, the teeth of the lower row fit between the two upper rows of teeth. In older individuals, the teeth wear down so much that bites are made by the keratinized edges of the jaws.
The heart of the tuateria is designed in the same way as in fish or amphibians. It has a special venous sinus, absent in other modern reptiles. Large eyes with a vertical slit-like pupil contain a reflective layer of cells, allowing them to see well in the dark. There are no eardrums or middle ear cavity.
Hatteria leads night look life. Its main food consists of insects, worms, mollusks, small lizards, as well as bird eggs and chicks. Mating occurs in January, when Southern Hemisphere summer begins. However, egg laying is observed only after the winter match - from October to December. The female lays 8-15 eggs in a special nesting chamber, which she then buries. Embryo development lasts from 12 to 15 months. Tutterias reach sexual maturity only at 20 years of age. Life expectancy in nature can exceed 100 years, and in captivity - 50 years.
Before the arrival of European settlers, the hatteria inhabited both of New Zealand's main islands. However, after colonization its extinction began. The main reason was domestic animals brought to the islands - pigs, goats, dogs, cats and rats. Some of them destroyed adult tuataria, others ate eggs and juveniles, and still others destroyed vegetation. As a result, by the end of the 19th century, the tuatteria became extinct on both main islands of New Zealand. Nowadays it is found only in a special reserve, on thirteen small waterless islands to the east and south of them. Petrels nest on these same islands. They make their nests in underground burrows up to a meter deep. Very often, the hatteria settles in the same hole with the petrel. In this case, the bird and reptile live together without causing any harm to each other. During the day, when petrels are busy searching for food, tuataria rest in burrows. With the onset of dusk, the picture changes - the petrels return to their nests, and the hatterias go out to hunt. Currently, three subspecies of hatteria are distinguished, differing in the characteristics of their scaly cover and color. All of them are listed in the International Red Book. Hatteria is successfully bred at Sydney Zoo.

encyclopedic Dictionary . 2009 .

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Hatteria Scientific classification... Wikipedia

Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), the only modern. representative of the beak-headed order. Known from the Late Jurassic and up. chalk. Outwardly it resembles a lizard. The body is massive, olive green, long. up to 76 cm. Avg. mass of females St. 0.5 kg, males 1 kg. Head... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

Tuatara Dictionary of Russian synonyms. hatteria noun, number of synonyms: 3 reptile (63) ... Synonym dictionary

Modern encyclopedia

- (tuatara) is the only modern representative of the order of beak-headed reptiles. Outwardly similar to a lizard. Length up to 75 cm. Along the back and tail there is a ridge of triangular scales. Lives in burrows up to 1 m deep. Before the arrival of Europeans, it inhabited the North. And … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Hatteria- HATTERIA, an ancient, relict reptile. Known since the Late Jurassic. Outwardly similar to a lizard. Length up to 75 cm, along the back and tail there is a ridge of triangular scales. Lives in burrows up to 1 m deep. Before the arrival of Europeans, it inhabited northern and southern... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Sphenodon punctatum), HATTERIA, a reptile similar in appearance to a lizard, the only one modern look the wedge-toothed family (Sphenodontidae), which today represents the ancient order of beak-headed, or proboscis-headed (Rhynchocephalia). Hatteria... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

The only living representative of the subclass of beak-headed reptiles; same as Tuatara... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

See Beakheads... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

The most ancient reptile, preserved from the time of dinosaurs, is the three-eyed lizard Hatteria, or tuatara (lat. ) is a species of reptile from the order Beak-headed.

For the uninitiated person, tuateria ( ) is simply a large, impressive-looking lizard. Indeed, this animal has greenish-gray scaly skin, short strong paws with claws, a crest on its back consisting of flat triangular scales, like agamas and iguanas (the local name for tuateria is tuatara- comes from the Maori word meaning "spiky"), and a long tail.

However, the hatteria is not a lizard at all. The features of its structure are so unusual that they established for it special squad in the class of reptiles - Rhynchocephalia, which means “beak-headed” (from the Greek “rynchos” - beak and “kephalon” - head; an indication of the premaxillary bone curving down).

True, this did not happen immediately. In 1831, the famous zoologist Gray, having only the skulls of this animal, gave it the name Sphenodon. After 11 years, a whole specimen of the tuatara fell into his hands, which he described as another reptile, giving it a name Hatteria punctata and classified as lizards from the aga family. Only 30 years later Gray established that Sphenodon And Hatteria- same. But even before this, in 1867, it was shown that the resemblance of the tuatara to lizards is purely external, and in terms of its internal structure (primarily the structure of the skull), the tuatara stands completely apart from all modern reptiles.

And then it turned out that the hatteria, which now lives exclusively on the islands of New Zealand, is a “living fossil”, the last representative of a once widespread group of reptiles that lived in Asia, Africa, North America and even in Europe. But all other beaked heads became extinct in the early Jurassic period, and hatteria managed to exist for almost 200 million years. It is surprising how little its structure has changed over this huge period of time, while lizards and snakes have achieved such diversity.

Very interesting feature tuateria - the presence of a parietal (or third) eye, located on the crown between the two real eyes*. Its function has not yet been clarified. This organ has a lens and a retina with nerve endings, but is devoid of muscles and any devices for accommodation or focusing. In a baby tuatara that has just hatched from an egg, the parietal eye is clearly visible - like a bare spot surrounded by scales that are arranged like flower petals. Over time, the “third eye” becomes overgrown with scales, and in adult tuatara it can no longer be seen. As experiments have shown, the hatteria cannot see with this eye, but it is sensitive to light and heat, which helps the animal regulate its body temperature, dosing the time it spends in the sun and in the shade.

As excavations show, not so long ago tuataria were found in abundance on the main islands of New Zealand - North and South. But the Maori tribes, who settled in these places in the 14th century, exterminated the Tuatara almost completely. The dogs and rats that came along with the people played an important role in this. True, some scientists believe that the hatteria died due to changes in climatic and environmental conditions. Until 1870, it was still found on the North Island, but at the beginning of the 20th century. has been preserved only on 20 small islands, of which 3 are located in Cook Strait, and the rest are off the northeastern coast of the North Island.

The appearance of these islands is gloomy - cold leaden waves crash on the rocky shores shrouded in fog. The already sparse vegetation suffered greatly from sheep, goats, pigs and other wild animals. Now, every single pig, cat and dog has been removed from the islands on which tuateria populations have remained, and the rodents have been destroyed. All these animals caused great damage to the tuatara by eating their eggs and young. Of the vertebrate animals on the islands, only reptiles and numerous seabirds remain, establishing their colonies here.

An adult male tuateria reaches a length (including tail) of 65 cm and weighs about 1 kg. Females are smaller and almost twice as light. These reptiles feed on insects, spiders, earthworms and snails. They love water, often lie in it for a long time and swim well. But the tuatara runs poorly.

Hatteria is a nocturnal animal, and unlike many other reptiles, it is active at relatively low temperatures - +6 o...+8 o C - this is another interesting feature of its biology. All vital processes in tuateria are slow, metabolism is low. There is usually about 7 seconds between two breaths, but a tuatara can remain alive without taking a single breath for an hour.

Winter time - from mid-March to mid-August - tuataria spend in burrows, hibernating. In the spring, females dig special small burrows into which, using their paws and mouth, they transfer a clutch of 8-15 eggs, each of which is about 3 cm in diameter and enclosed in a soft shell. The top of the masonry is covered with earth, grass, leaves or moss. The incubation period lasts about 15 months, that is, much longer than that of other reptiles.

The tuatara grows slowly and reaches sexual maturity no earlier than 20 years. That is why we can assume that she is one of the outstanding long-livers of the animal world. It is possible that some males are over 100 years old.

What else is this animal famous for? Hatteria is one of the few reptiles with a real voice. Her sad, hoarse cries can be heard on foggy nights or when someone is bothering her.

Another one amazing feature Tuatara live together with gray petrels, which nest on the islands in self-dug burrows. Hatteria often settles in these holes, despite the presence of birds there, and sometimes, apparently, destroys their nests - judging by the finds of chicks with their heads bitten off. So such a neighborhood, apparently, does not give the petrels much joy, although usually birds and reptiles coexist quite peacefully - the hatteria prefers other prey, which it goes in search of at night, and in the daytime the petrels fly to the sea for fish. When the birds migrate, the hatteria hibernates.

The total number of living tuataria is now about 100,000 individuals. The largest colony is located on Stephens Island in the Cook Strait - 50,000 tuatara live there on an area of 3 km 2 - an average of 480 individuals per 1 hectare. On small islands with an area of less than 10 hectares, the population of tuateria does not exceed 5,000 individuals. The New Zealand government has long recognized the value of this amazing reptile for science, and there has been a strict conservation regime on the islands for about 100 years. You can visit them only with special permission and strict liability is established for violators. In addition, tuatara are successfully bred at the Sydney Zoo in Australia.

Hatterias are not eaten, and their skins have no commercial demand. They live on remote islands, where there are no people or predators, and are well adapted to the conditions existing there. So, apparently, nothing threatens the survival of these unique reptiles at present. They can easily while away their days on secluded islands, to the delight of biologists who, among other things, are trying to find out the reasons why the hatteria did not disappear in those distant times when all its relatives became extinct.

Perhaps we can learn from the people of New Zealand how to protect our natural resources. As Gerald Durrell wrote, “Ask any New Zealander why they protect the tuateria. And they will consider your question simply inappropriate and will say that, firstly, this is a one-of-a-kind creature, secondly, zoologists are not indifferent to it, and, thirdly, if it disappears, it will disappear forever.” Can you imagine such a response from a Russian resident to the question of why protect, say, the Caucasian cross? So I can’t. Maybe that’s why we don’t live like we do in New Zealand?

V.V. Bobrov

Hatteria is endangered relict species and protected by law, they are kept in captivity only in a few zoos.

Until 1989, it was believed that there was only one species of these reptiles, but Victoria University (Wellington) professor Charles Dougherty discovered that there are actually two of them - the hatteria ( ) and Brother Island tuatara ( Sphenodon guntheri).

Who is called the “prehistoric monster” or Hatteria (lat. Sphenodon punctatus) - one of a kind.

The Permian cotylosaurs gave rise to a group of reptiles in which the evolution of the skull followed the path of reduction (simplification of the structure, in this case, lightening the weight of the skull due to the formation of the temporal pits).

This is how the group of diapsids arose, which includes two subclasses - lepidosaurs and archosaurs. Lepidosaurs among modern reptiles include a number of squamates and the only representative of the ancient branch of reptiles - hatteria. It represents at once a species, a genus, and a family, as well as a series of beak-headed or proboscis-headed animals.

The tuatara or tuatara is a rare animal with a very scientifically interesting body structure. It has so many qualities of primitive organization, common with reptiles that lived in the Permian period and early Triassic, that it is called a living fossil. Externally, tuateria is similar to big lizard. The length of her body reaches 75 cm. On the back of her head, as well as along her back and tail, she has a crest consisting of sharp plates - spines. Hence its second name – tuatara. In the Maori language, the indigenous people of New Zealand, this means “one who bears thorns.”

The body of the tuateria is massive, the five-fingered limbs are horizontal, the tail is long and triangular. The head is quite large, on its sides there are big eyes with vertical pupils. The body is covered with scales of varying sizes, and on the ventral side there are quadrangular scutes. The color is olive green with small white and large yellow spots. The color of the crest on the back is light yellow, and on the tail it is brown. For your 165 million. Over the years, the tuateria has hardly changed.

According to their lifestyle, they are nocturnal animals; only in the evening do they emerge from their burrows to bask in the sun. They forage for food at night. They feed mainly on insects, mollusks and worms, and if the opportunity arises, on lizards and small birds. Amazing property heteriums is their ability to remain active at fairly low temperatures (6-18 ° C). Therefore, their winter sleep is not sound, and sunny days they wake up and even come out of their holes.

Hatterias begin to reproduce only at the age of 20. Gaterias mate in January. Males at this time vigorously defend their individual areas. To make the right impression on their rivals and partner, they raise the crest and spines on their backs. If the tuateria is in danger, it also “bristles.” IN mating season males fight fiercely for the right to mate with a female. They often cause serious damage to each other. After some time, around October-December, the female lays eggs.

Further growth and development of young animals is also a very long process. Layed eggs with a hard shell in the amount of 9-17 pieces are buried in burrows. The female guards the clutch from other females and makes sure that they do not lay their eggs there. The hole is located in an open place, which is well warmed up by the rays of the sun. Egg development lasts approximately 12-15 months, this is the longest incubation period in reptiles. Before hatching, the cubs grow a hard, horny tooth on their snout, with which they pierce the soft shell of the egg. Hatterias grow very slowly.

The government of New Zealand, where they live, is doing everything possible to preserve these rare reptiles. It is strictly forbidden not only to catch living animals, but also to pick up dead animals, which constitute a valuable find for zoologists, because tuataria live for a very long time (up to 100 years), and therefore the possibility of studying them internal structure happens rarely. It is believed that the first settlers from Polynesia, who once settled in New Zealand, hunted gameteria for meat, which, however, as in many similar cases, did not pose a serious threat to these reptiles, and their numbers were approximately constant.

The real danger for these amazing creatures arose after Europeans arrived on the islands and brought domestic animals with them. By that time, the absence of natural enemies may have contributed to the persistence of the species. So, the hatteria could not resist dogs, cats and pigs. These domestic animals hunted the Gateria and ate their eggs. And for a very long time short period the populations of Gateria that lived on the North and South Islands disappeared. The next threat are rabbits brought from Europe. They eat grass and destroy the habitats of many species of insects that feed on the hatteria.

The habitats of the tuataria suffered not only destruction, but also severe changes. The islands where this one lives ancient lizard, declared nature reserves. Now this species has the status of a vulnerable species and is listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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The tuatara, better known as the tuatara, is the only remaining beaked reptile in the world. Perhaps its existence is not so well known to ordinary people, but in the scientific world, information about the last living creature of the prehistoric fauna has spread far beyond its habitat. They are the last witnesses of the animal world of the age of dinosaurs and a real treasure of Polynesia.

They represent a large and ancient lineage of vertebrates and are a key link to the ancestors that evolved into dinosaurs, modern reptiles, birds and mammals. Once widespread on the Gondwanaland continent, the species has become extinct everywhere except for a small group living on a few New Zealand islands.

The oldest fossilized tuatara are found in Jurassic rocks, sand dunes, peat bogs and caves. Fossil evidence suggests that the tuatara was once distributed throughout the country. The first researchers classified the tuatara as a lizard, but in 1867, Dr. Gunther from the British Museum, studying its skeleton in detail, proposed a different classification, which was accepted by everyone scientists world. They became the extreme taxon of their group on the evolutionary tree, intriguing for their mixed properties. Having the skull structure and vestigial reproductive organ of birds, the ears of turtles and the brain of amphibians, their hearts and lungs were formed before the appearance of living animals. The presence of a “third eye”, located in the upper part of the skull, in the form of a scaly growth, is also striking.

Features of hutteria

Cold-blooded and slow-moving, ancient tuataria are a kind of chubby-cheeked, long-tailed iguana, with spines on their neck, back and tail, as long as a human forearm. Their name translated from the Maori language means “spikes on the back.”

The tuatara has one row of teeth on the lower jaw and two rows on the upper jaw. The upper jaw is rigidly attached to the skull. Their teeth are an extension of the jaw bones. When they wear out, they are not replaced, but they also do not fall out. This distinctive unique feature affects the mechanism of food absorption.

Newborn individuals have a horny, non-calcified, so-called egg tooth, which is provided by nature to facilitate emergence from the egg. Soon after birth, this tooth falls out. Unlike lizards, the vertebrae of the hatteria are more reminiscent of the vertebral bones of fish and some other amphibians. Their bony ribs are more typical of crocodiles than lizards. Males do not have a sexual organ. Tuatara is one of the least studied and most ancient animals.

Hatterias reach their peak activity when their body temperature is 12-17 degrees Celsius. This is a record among reptiles for minimum temperature, suitable for life. Perhaps this is the reason why the species was able to survive in temperate climate New Zealand. Other reptiles are active when their body temperature is between 25 and 38 degrees Celsius. Another remarkable feature of tuataras is their breathing rate. They breathe air only once an hour. The species does not need to drink water.

Lifestyle and habits of tuataria

Tuatara are mostly active at night, but sometimes come out during the day to bask in the sun. They live in burrows, which they sometimes share with seabirds. The house is located underground in holes that form labyrinths of tunnels. In the spring, they happen to feed on bird eggs and newly hatched chicks.

Their main food is beetles, worms, centipedes and spiders; they can feast on lizards, frogs, and other small invertebrates. They go out to eat mainly at night. It happens that adult tuataria eat their tiny offspring. Older individuals should eat soft foods, as do many older individuals.

They're like sprinters short distances, can move with maximum speed not for long, after which, exhausted, they should stop and rest. The heart rate is only six to eight times per minute, and they can move without eating. In winter, they fall into a state similar to lethargy and so deeply that they seem dead. Tuatara are often referred to as living or relict "fossils", along with coelacanth fish, horseshoe crabs, nautiluses and the ginkgo tree.

Like many other New Zealand animals, the tuatara is a long-lived animal. They reach reproductive maturity after about 15 years of life. Reproductive capacity persists for many decades. Females are able to lay eggs only once every few years. The maximum lifespan has not been precisely studied. Some living individuals have reached 80 summer age in captivity, under the constant supervision of specialists, but still look quite energetic.

Appearance

Hatterias are quite muscular, have sharp claws and partially webbed feet, and can swim well. In case of danger, they hit with their tail, bite and scratch. Males can weigh more than a kilogram, females rarely exceed five hundred grams. They grow faster in captivity than in the wild. Tuatara are unusual in that they like cool weather. They do not survive temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius, but survive temperatures below five degrees by taking refuge in burrows. Most activity is seen at temperatures ranging from seven to twenty-two degrees Celsius, and most reptiles hibernate at such low temperatures.

The male has a distinctive crest of spines along his neck and back, which he can deploy to attract females or fight enemies. Tuatara colors range from olive green, brown to orange-red. Coloring may change over the course of life. They molt once a year.

Reproduction of tuatara

Sexual maturity is reached at approximately 20 years of age. Reproduction occurs slowly. After mating in the summer, females lay eggs only the following spring. Eggs burrow into the soil. Where they remain until they are born for 13-14 months. A total of 6 to 10 eggs are laid.

Hatterias have an unusual feature. Sex of offspring depends on temperature environment. If the soil temperature is relatively cool, not only will the egg stay in the ground longer, but a female egg will be more likely to emerge. In order for a male individual to be born, it takes enough warm temperature. After a little over a year, the children hatch and must take care of themselves. Newly hatched individuals, no larger than a paperclip. It may take two decades before the cub matures, unless during this time it becomes someone's prey.

Endemic to New Zealand

Tuatara live only in New Zealand and the nearby Cook Islands. All reptiles in New Zealand are protected by law. They feature in Maori legends and are believed by some tribes to be repositories of knowledge. They were almost completely wiped out by the rats that arrived on the isolated continent with the first Polynesian explorers. Rats also drove the hatteria from the mainland to the remote islands. Today, tuataras persist on only 35 small, predator-free islands.

Currently, the tuatara lives on approximately 35 islands. Seven of these islands are in the Cook Strait region - between Wellington at the southern tip of the North Island and Marlborough-Nelson at the tip South Island. In total there are about 45,500 animals. Another 10,000 tuatara are found around the North Island - near Auckland, Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula and the Bay of Plenty.

Reasons for the decline in tuatara numbers

Although a small amount of Tuatara are found in the wild and quite successful captive breeding programs have been launched, but the species remains under threat of extinction.
Before people appeared, the only ones natural enemies there were large birds.

When Polynesian settlers arrived in New Zealand in 1250-1300, they brought with them the kiore, the small Pacific rat. Kiore have become the main threat to the population. By the mid-19th century, when the first European inhabitants settled here, the tuatara on the mainland had already become almost extinct.

At that time, the Hatteria managed to find temporary shelter on some islands, but they were eventually overrun by rats and other predators that arrived with the European settlers. Since an adult can reach a length of 75 centimeters, it was the young specimens that were subjected to most at risk from predators such as cats, dogs, ferrets, rats and possums.

Already in 1895, the tuatara were under legal protection, but their numbers continued to decline rapidly. Hundreds of copies were sent abroad to museums and private collections. Poaching is still a problem.

Predator Control Measures

In the mid-eighties of the last century, the security service wildlife and its successor, the Department for the Conservation of Endangered Species, began developing ways to remove rats from the islands. In addition to predator eradication, other measures to protect the tuatara have been introduced, such as egg collection and incubation, captive breeding programs, and relocation to rat-free islands.

The Maori experience of Hauturu Island, commonly known as the Little Barrier, which is located in the Hauraki Gulf between Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula, is wonderful example saving rare animals from extinction through conservation initiatives. In 1991, after the launch of the program, no traces of animals were found on the island. After 14 years, researchers found eight adults. By providing them with a safe habitat and breeding offspring in incubators, residents returned these wonderful animals to the wild.

Nowadays New Zealand spends huge amounts of money fighting mammals that have artificially inhabited the islands. The main endemic animal pests are rats and possums. The government has set itself an ambitious goal: to clear the country of imported predators by 2050. At the moment, the project is at the stage of developing the technologies necessary for its implementation. At the moment, according to the Ministry of Nature Protection, about a hundred islands have been cleared of the countless predators that have captured them. National and regional pest control programs are in place. The cost of making and installing traps, poisoning and developing new technologies amounts to more than $70 million a year. Employees of the Department for the Conservation of Endangered Animals actively cooperate with universities, zoos and others government agencies on issues of protecting the remaining population.

There are four main strategies for preserving them:

Destruction of pests on habitat islands;
Egg incubation: wild collection and controlled laboratory hatching;
Raising young animals: young individuals are raised in special enclosures until adulthood;
Reintroduction: Individuals are transported to a new area to establish a new population or help restore an existing one.

The idea of settling more southern regions is one of the most effective. The wild tuatara habitat on the small islands to the north is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, rising sea levels, rising temperatures and extreme weather events. weather conditions. The Tuatara have a long future ahead if humane and effective ways destroying their enemies.

Until 1998, tuatara could only be found in reserves on islands that were closed to the public. As an experiment, life observation was possible on Matthew Island in Wellington Harbor and on an island near Auckland. People rushed to see with their own eyes the results of the work of successful environmental projects for population restoration. Since 2007, they have been available to watch at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, 10 minutes from Wellington city centre.

The tuatara is the symbol of New Zealand. They are represented in paintings and immortalized in sculptures, postage stamps and coins. From 1967 to 2006, a lizard sitting on a rocky shore was minted on the nickel.

Stephens Island, lost in the Cook Strait, separating the North Island from the South Island in New Zealand, presents a rather gloomy picture: rocky shores, shrouded in fog, against which cold leaden waves break, and sparse vegetation. However, it is here, on an inconspicuous-looking island with an area of only 3 km2, that almost all zoologists in the world dream of visiting, since this is one of the last refuges of the most unique animal on the planet - the hatteria.

Externally, the hatteria (Sphenodon punctatus) is very similar to a lizard: greenish-gray scaly skin, short strong paws with claws, a long tail, a dorsal crest consisting of flat triangular scales. By the way, the local name for tuatara is derived from the Maori word meaning “spiny.” It is possible that this may refer to its serrated comb.

And yet with everything external resemblance The hatteria is not a lizard. Moreover, scientists did not immediately understand the significance of this unique reptile. In 1831, the famous zoologist Gray, having only the skull of this animal, classified it as a member of the agama family. And only in 1867, another researcher, Gunther, proved that the resemblance to lizards is purely external, but in terms of its internal structure it stands completely apart from all modern reptiles and deserves to be allocated to a special order Rhyncho-cephalia, which means “beak-headed” (from the Greek "rynchos" - beak and "cephalon" - head; an indication of the premaxillary bone curving down). And after some time it turned out that the tuatara is actually alive prehistoric monster, the last and only representative of a group of reptiles that lived in Asia, Africa, North America and even Europe. Hatteria somehow managed to exist for almost 200 million years, without any significant evolutionary changes skeleton, and all its relatives became extinct in the early Jurassic period, during the era of dinosaurs.

Not so long ago, tuataria were found in abundance on the main islands of New Zealand - North and South, but, as excavations show, the Maori tribes that colonized the islands in the 14th century exterminated them almost completely. The dogs and rats brought to the island played an important role in this. True, some scientists believe that the hatteria disappeared there due to changes in climatic and environmental conditions. Until 1870, it was still found on the North Island itself, but at the beginning of the 20th century it was preserved only on 20 small islands, of which 3 are in Cook Strait, and the remaining 17 are located off the northern coast of the North Island. The population of these reptiles on the islands (half of which are uninhabited) is about 100,000. The largest colony is on Stephens Island, where 50,000 individuals live - an average of 480 tuataria per 1 hectare. On islands with an area of less than 10 hectares - no more than 5,000.

Hatteria is a nocturnal animal; unlike many other reptiles, it is active at relatively low temperatures: +6° - +8°C. This is another one of its many features. The tuateria moves slowly, while hardly raising its belly above the substrate. However, frightened, she rises on her limbs and may even run. It feeds on insects, spiders, earthworms and snails. He loves water, lies in it for a long time and can swim well. From mid-March to mid-August it winters in burrows. When molting, the dead epidermis is shed in pieces. All the life processes of the tuateria are slow, the metabolism is low, the act of breathing lasts seven seconds, by the way, it may not breathe at all for an hour.

Mating occurs in January - at the height of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. In the period from October to December, the female lays 8 - 15 eggs in soft shells, the size of which does not exceed 3 cm. For clutches, she digs small holes, where she lays the eggs with the help of her paws and mouth and covers them with earth, grass, leaves or moss. The incubation period lasts about 15 months, significantly longer than that of other reptiles. The tuateria grows slowly and reaches sexual maturity only at the age of 20. That is why we can assume that she is one of the longest-livers among animals. It is possible that some are over 100 years old or more.

The tuatara is one of the few reptiles with a real voice. Her sad, hoarse cries can be heard on foggy nights or when someone is bothering her.

The New Zealand government has long realized the uniqueness of this animal, and therefore there has been a strict conservation regime on the islands for more than 100 years - visiting the islands inhabited by them is allowed only with a special pass, and violators are severely punished. In addition, every single pig, cat and dog was removed from the islands, and rodents were destroyed. They all caused great damage by eating tuatara eggs and their young.

Therefore, now these secluded islands with their bird colonies and salt marsh vegetation represent an isolated refuge, where only this ancient animal can exist in the image of its ancestors. So now nothing threatens these unique animals in many respects, and they can quietly while away their days in the most comfortable conditions for them on specially protected islands.

A very interesting feature of the hatteria is its cohabitation with the gray petrel nesting on the islands, which digs burrows in which it usually settles together with it. For most of the year, such a neighborhood does not cause them any trouble, since the petrel hunts for fish in the daytime, and the hatteria goes in search of prey at night.

When the petrels migrate, the hatteria hibernates. However, judging by the chicks with their heads bitten off found in burrows, cohabitation is much more beneficial for the tuatara. But still, chicks are her random and rare prey.
Another amazing detail of the hatteria's structure is the presence of a parietal, or third, eye, located between the two real eyes. Its function has not yet been clarified. In a baby tuatara that has just hatched from an egg, the parietal eye is clearly visible. It is a bare spot surrounded by scales that are arranged like flower petals. Over time, the “third eye” becomes overgrown with scales, and in adult tuatara it can no longer be seen. Researchers have repeatedly tried to find out whether the tuatare has any benefit from the parietal eye. Although this organ has a lens and a retina with nerve endings, which suggests sensitivity to light, the eye itself is muscleless and has no accommodation or focusing devices. In addition, experiments have shown that the animal does not see with this eye, but it is sensitive to light and heat and helps regulate body temperature, strictly dosing the time it spends in the sun and in the shade.

The tuatara is the only modern reptile that does not have a copulatory organ. But even more important, at least from the point of view of paleontologists, is that it, like some ancient reptiles, has two complete bony arches in the temporal region of the skull. According to scientists, the laterally open skull of a modern lizard comes precisely from such an ancient double-arched skull. Consequently, the hatteria retains the features of the ancestral forms of both lizards and snakes. But unlike them, it has practically not changed over millions of years. In addition to the usual ribs, the hatteria also has a series of so-called abdominal ribs, which among modern reptiles are preserved only in crocodiles.
Tuatara have wedge-shaped teeth. They grow to the upper edge of the lower and lower edge of the upper jaw. The second row of teeth is located on the palatine bone. When closing, the teeth of the lower jaw fit between the two upper rows of teeth. In adult individuals, the teeth wear down so much that the bite is made by the very edges of the jaws, the covers of which become keratinized.

V.V. Bobrov, candidate biological sciences| Photo by Mikhail Kachalin