LIFE OF THE TUATARA

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1930, Page 13

LIFE OF THE TUATARA

' JNSTINCT FOR ECONOMY. RELIC OF PREHISTORIC AGES. The life of the tqatara formed the 6jilbjpct pf a very interesting lecture delivered at Auckland by Mr. R. A. Falla, pf the War Memorial Museum staff. A solitary Hying relic of prphfetorjc ages, the tuatara is regarded’by most people who have seen it—and by* many wife have not—as a very dull and uninteresting grey lizard, whppe chief claim to notice-is its lifeless immobility. Such apparently; is not the case,, and Mr. Falla, says the Npw Zealand Herald, introduced it' to his audience as a sagapfeus creature which practised the virtue of economy with reptilian thoroughness, and whose worst vice wae curiosity.' Avoiding technicalities as far as possible, Mr. Falla explained that the tpatara had descended from the secondary period in the earth’s existence, when the chief form of life was reptilian, and it lived in company with pterodactyls, mastodons and Pthpr gaflrian monsters whose existence is now ascertainable by means of fossilised rcipaips. The tuatara therefore . possessed an extremely prpud apd qpefent lineage, which went back for many thousands pf yearp. Its presppt fprm was pvpcfically the same as tlfet of its ancestors, pijdcppi parison with fossilised retiming of a sjmi]ar rgptile found ifi Shropshire and in the United (States ghpwed that therp wap vpry little divergence with ’thp nagsing of the centuries. The skull of thp tuatgra wag remarkably bird-like, but this Was undertstaiidgblp when it was realise ed thgt birds were direct descendants of tlie reptiles. Much was heard about its so-palled third eye,- a payity in the centre of the skull, which in the young pf the sppeies is noticeable as a discoloured patch of skin- Various theories were held rewarding this formation, but the most likely one wgs tliat tlfe creature originally possessed a third eye in the top of itp head to enable it to see the approach of the pterodactyl, a huge flying monster, which was its chief enemy. Although it formerly inhabited the mainland of New Zealand, the tuatara has now disappeared, but it still exists in large numbers on tfie. sinall islands elope to the coast, extending from the Three Kings in the North, to Stephen’s feland and tile Brothers Islands fe Cook Strait. On these small islands, which are of Jjttle use commercially and hence are unlikely to be disturbed by human beings, the, tuatara exists in its pri- ‘ meval state. By day all is silence, broken only by the sound of the sea or the rustling of the wind in the.scriib. But by the night, according to Mr. Falla’s description of an island he had visited, everything was changed. The tuatara lives not alone, but in company with a. species of petrel, more familiarly known in New Zealand as the mutton-bird.l Both creatures live in burrows in the sand, but the tuatara, being imbued with the instinct for economy, prefers to share lodgings with a family of mutton-birds in order to save the trouble of excavating its own burrow. When it is compelled to dig a burrow of its own it makes a cavity only large enough to hold its own body, |>ut which cannot compare in comfort with the commodious residence constructed by the mutton-bird. This communal life last only from October to March and during tlie remaining portion of tlie year the tuatara retires intp hibernation. The arrangement between the fiirds and the tuatara is mutally satisfactory. The birds arrive in October for tlie nesting season and dig their burrows. It is then that the tuatara selects a

bird pf qiliet apd peaceable disposition upon whose hospitality it foists . itself. After the eggs-have been laifl the hen bird fiits pn tfiefe fOI three W ee l\fi ®- nd spends practically t|je wfiole of this tinm in. tfie borrow, slipping duying tire (Uy- The niafe bird is away during the daylight hqurs at hh feeding grpifeds, which may be frojji fit) to IPQ Pltl? 3 away, but in the evening he returns to feed, his jnate. This fe (flip tiipe. flipping which the tuatara rpafeS fqrtfl in seafeh of the small ground creatures which epuatitute ■ its food and as. it flues not return to thp bpfrpw uptH flawb tlfe male bird has by that tin;p sallied forth puce nfe.re to ifs feeding ground and the problem of pvercrpwfling no eventuate.

Breathing is a very feisufply proppss fur thp tifetuya pud ip hia mpsf ppfivp period fietwepn Qptqbpr apd Marph, when hp may be sa;fl fo fip living at ifls fastpqt rate, the tugtara firpatlfes pnly pnpe in about gp minutes. Thp breeding aeafion cpfenipncea usually ju Nqve.feteh when thp fepfele nhout 10 eggs, which bear a plpse re^efeblfßfe 6 tf? » fleprepit pingqipng flail and. whiph avp very tough and feathery in tpxt.pre. These are binfefl in a sflnqy portion of the beach or sanfl-dpnp and are left for 13 months to inpflbatp, . . s Having described fife life'.aqfl flaflits of this interesting creature, Ml"- ■ Falla introduced tp tfle auflieucp a captive tuatara ot Wither n taeifurn appearanep, which proudly hove the iiaufe of “Musgqlini.” This spppinfefl, wh ic h had npt beep fed siqcp April, hafl flpen a Wakeped frqm h.is winter sleep a weak previously pnd difipipyefl a coppiderablp amount pf activity- At every strange ppise fiis head waa raised and if his curiosity was ppt thpp satisfied fie executed a series of quick gyrations attributed by the lecturer to the excitement resulting frpjp flis s strange surroundings. It was an. inspiring performance. t