11/11/2008

Prehistoric Reptile an amazing discovery


A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years so I read here.

Some eggs from an indigenous Tuatara were found at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital of New Zealand purely by accident so there could well be more who knows.
They resemble our concepts of dragons and can grow up to 32 inches (about 81 centimetres) according to zoologists these reptiles are the last descendants of creatures that roamed our world 225 million years ago.
They can still be found on outlying Islands though where there are no predators that were introduced by Europeans many years ago.
200 have been introduced to this sanctuary from 2005 onwards
They have very unique characteristics, such as two rows of top teeth closing over one row at the bottom with a pronounced
parietal eye, a light-sensitive pineal gland on the top of the skull.
Called a third eye it gradually vanishes as they get older.

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