ONE HOME OF TUATARA IS ON RURIMA ISLANDS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 34, 5 September 1949, Page 6

ONE HOME OF TUATARA IS ON RURIMA ISLANDS

The venerable protected oddity of the animal, or rather reptile world, the tuatara is of some interest to the Bay of Plenty because one of it’s few remaining homes is the Rurima Islands, just off the coast from Matata. It also exists on other small islands around, the New Zealand coast and it is believed that there are no colonies on the mainland at the present time. Considerable research on the tuatara, which looks like a lizard but is not one, has been done by Mr W. H. Dawbin, a lecturer of zoology at Victoria College, whose results have won the attention of many scientists. Looks Sluggish Persons who gaze at a tuatara in captivity may get an impression that it is the world’s most sluggish creature, muclk- more interested in motionless meditation than in seeking food or other entertainment. Mr Dawbin thrusts that notion out of bounds. “During a walk at Stephens Island in daylight,” he writes, “there may be few signs of tuataras unless it is sunny enough for them to bask in the warmth at the entrance of their burrows. Even then, the first indication of their presence is usually the noise of a quick scuffle, and in turning to the source of sound one may be in time to see the disappearing tip of a tail. .Anyone who chatches a glimpse of the rapid movement will immediately lose any preconceived ideas about their sluggishness. It is a curious fact that almost every, account of the tuatara mentions its ‘slugishness,’ a statement probably due to many observations of its long periods of immobility. A stealthy approach towards an occupied burrow may allow a closer inspection of the tuatara before it disappears. “It is not until after dark that one can find tuataras away from their burrows and about in appreciable numbers. In most types of country, from exposed bouldery ridges to the shelter of the rather open forest or tussocky slopes, they may be seen and one may occasionally hear their frog-like croak. Likes Wetas

Presumably they are in search of the beetles, wetas, and snails that form the bulk of their food. The motionless pause near a large weta, followed by a dart which is too rapid to be clearly observed and then the audible crunching that follows, have been commented on by the lighthouse keepers.” The tuatara shares with the European water-tortoise the distinction of laying eggs which take about a year to hatch. The tuatara embryo develops an egg tooth on its snout, and thus it cuts the tough membrane.