UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIPS can develop between immigrants: like the tuatara and fairy prions which, thrown together by the lottery of island dispersal, share burrows on Stephens Island. Tuatara reach highest densities on islands with moderate numbers of prions. The reptiles seem to gain most from the relationship: warmth from the birds and the opportunity to predate chicks at a vulnerable age. This sudden, massive protein intake may be an important trigger for egg production in female tuatara. Reptiles are capable of enduring long sea voyages on rafts of vegetation, so like seabirds are well suited to island colonisation.
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Forest and Bird, Issue 268, 1 May 1993, Page 11
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97UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIPS can develop between immigrants: like the tuatara and fairy prions which, thrown together by the lottery of island dispersal, share burrows on Stephens Island. Tuatara reach highest densities on islands with moderate numbers of prions. The reptiles seem to gain most from the relationship: warmth from the birds and the opportunity to predate chicks at a vulnerable age. This sudden, massive protein intake may be an important trigger for egg production in female tuatara. Reptiles are capable of enduring long sea voyages on rafts of vegetation, so like seabirds are well suited to island colonisation. Forest and Bird, Issue 268, 1 May 1993, Page 11
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