Tuatara

Scientists from the University of Adelaide and South Australian Museum worked with Otago University, New Zealand to study the rare tuatara and its genetic makeup.

The tuatara may look like a rather ordinary reptile, but it’s a highly unusual creature. This New Zealand native has a unique, ancient lineage that goes back to the time of the dinosaurs. There are two living species of tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus and the much rarer Sphenodon guntheri, or Brothers Island tuatara, which is found […]

Many living fossils still alive today have bizarre, eccentric traits that make them seem more like aliens than anything from this world.

The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) is often referred to as a living fossil. The species is virtually indistinguishable from its 200-million-year-old ancestors. Living fossils are an enigma to evolutionists. Over millions of years environments have changed dramatically, yet species like ...

But if your kind has been around 220 million years, there’s no hurry

Project Noah is a tool that nature lovers can use to explore and document local wildlife and a common technology platform that research groups can use to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.

A Szent István Egyetem 1. évfolyamos biológus (BSc) hallgatói tudományos ismeretterjesztő írás elk�...

Henry, a 120-year-old-plus tuatara

Some vipers, pythons and boas have a special organ just under their nostrils that makes them better hunters. What is this organ used to detect?Various snakes have pits or channels on their faces filled with thermoreceptors enabling them to have "heat sensing" capabilities. They can detect thermal radiation of prey as well as predators. -- Answer: Thermal radiation (heat) -- #Science

“Look at this cutie. At 111 years of age, Henry is still doing it with the lady tuataras. https://t.co/Elgr8Nn7fL”