THE TUATARA LIZARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10837, 22 August 1898, Page 6

THE TUATARA LIZARD.

I'KOFESSOE DENDY, 0 Canterbury College, las S been engaged (says the Press) for the past 'two ij years in investigating the development of the'-.-' Tuatara lizard, perhaps the most remarkable i ;; \ animal now living in New Zealand, and the'.-: oldest existing type of reptile. A short sum- ; ma ,!L of the Principal scientific results ob- ' . i,m as 5 ent „ t0 London Just in time to ha I nl , ft the ?°3' al Socie '3' at its final meet- - rag lor the session in June last. The memoir ' Jtsei, containing a long account of the general development, with numerous illustrations', • was sent to England some weeks ago, as well m as a more special account of the development ! of that remarkable organ, the third, or so-:' called pineal' eye, which is exceptionally well preserved in the Tuatara, but is shown oy its development to have nothing to do • really with the pineal gland, but to be the , sole survivor of an original pair of "parietal.' eyes of which the sight lias disappeared, i iue development of the Tuatara presents several remarkable features. The eggs are laid in " November, and on Stephen's Island take about thirteen' months to hatch, the embryos d passing the winter in a state of hybernation, fh unknown in any other vertebrate embryos.: ; fletore entering upon their winter sleep tie : nostrils of the embryo become completely . pugged up by a growth of cellular tissue, the embryos obtained have been classified in : lb stages. The earlv stages of development are singularly like the corresponding stages m in turtles and tortoises, especially as regards V the total membranes; there being a large:! canal behind the ciubrvo leading to tlio «-,;,- tenor, and known as the posterior amniotic canal, which has hitherto been found only in | turtles and tortoises, where it was discovered . a lew years ago by a Japanese observer. I'm- - lessor Dendy'B results thus strongly confirm the views of those naturalists who regard the •., niataru as being at least as closely related ~ to the turtles as it is to the lizards. fimM In the later stages of the deTclopßient the | young animal has a strangely developed pattern of longitudinal and transverse stripes. --._, which disappear before hatching, the adult | animal being usually spotted. This observa- -, tion is a striking confirmation of the general.--, Jaws of colouration as observed iii yoa»S ' ■ birds and mammals, which are commonly striped. ■ .'>":;: The eggs which Dr. Dendv investigated were ■: collected for him by Mr. P. Henaghan, principal keeper on Stephen's Island, who sboweJ indefatigable zeal in the pursuit, and made . many valuable observations on the habits ol | the Tuatara. Permission was granted to Dr. Deudy by the Government to collect botn eggs and sp«<-imens for scientific investiga- g tion, and the result of Mr. Henaghan's obser- •_ vations has been to show that eggs can w... obtained all the year round by those WW ~ know where to look for them. Fortunate? h for the Tuatara, Mr. Heni>?han appears to be the only collector who docs know at pre-. sent, and it is to be hoped that before Jus | Knowledge is made public the Government.. will take steps to prohibit the taking of.egz' ~ as well as of adults, for wo believe the word-: i ing of the Act leaves the eggs unprotected we believe that two German collectors jm" late'- made vigorous, but as yet unsuccessmi. efforts to collect the eggs. "' : '