INTERESTING SCIENTIFIC FIND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 187, 2 May 1908, Page 4

INTERESTING SCIENTIFIC FIND.

.j j-'.;v ; ; v .'■ THE TUATARA. LIZARD: (BY TELEGRAPH;—PKFSS ASSOCIATION ) ; Christohuroh, May 1. : 'A "find," 'o{ raarkc{l :impprtanoe to.scien-' tists, was made by a young, man. who 'spent - , ■ -his '.■Easter"^holiday^ : at Akaroa/': • mng down a hill, lie jumped on to a large bpuTder, from' ivliicli ho,detachted' a.''piece that'. • had previously been cracked. Betwoon the stone and.the that:had.beeai^broken off the young mau saw a lizard about-1,0 inches long, which amoved sluggishly away, . Lie pickdd the reptile up, and examined it, coinr ' ing to the - conclusion' that' it 1 was a tuatara lizard. Ho states that it had an indentation on tho top of the head, spines on the back, and tlio blunt tail and angular head, peculiar'. to., the represeiitativos of the niost ancient family- of Vepfcilw. "i'The; creature, efinced noi desiro to hurry awnv, and was handled by the' ■ ' find'er without making any effort* to;'escape;.. The young nian pi(t the. lizard , iii' pocket!, and hurried down tho slope to join his fripnds, lint, as -fclio lizard began to struggle; ho ; took, it out and carried it for some distance in his hand. Unfortunately, lie stumbled oyer spine undergrowth, and the tuatara slipped out.of ; his hand ami escaped-into tho scruV A dill--gent soarch failed to reveal the lizard, and tlio Tinder, had reluctilitly 'to give'~uj> v the chase. On being questioned, lie gave a e'ear ■ description of tho lizard, coinciding with that of tho tuatarli. These peculiar roptilea aro commonly supposed to bo ,extinct on- the mainland of both. Islands of New Zealand. The ", pigs liberated by Captain' Ciok are blamed for having had a large'share'in the. extermination of_ the tuatara, and .the only plaoe where specimens aro at all common is' on the Great Barrier Island, Evidence was recently found that gave good grounds for supposing that tuatarns wero aliro on Mira-: ii'nar Peninsula at Wellington, but the-traces,', of. thpin in the South Islaiid have .betti almost • entirely pbliteratod, though tliey were plentiful in tho Dominion ivlion tlio first settlers arrived. A Ghnstoluuch gc-iitloman who has studied the subject exhaustively says; that tlio find at Akaroa is most' important, apd may lead .to interesting.inyisstiEatipiis. ';; . ' ..;/