Science Learning Hub logo
TopicsConceptsCitizen scienceTeacher PLDGlossary
Sign in
Image

Tuatara

Tuatara sitting on a rock, blue background.

New Zealand’s endemic tuatara is a very unusual animal. They are the only living representative of a group of reptiles known as Rhynchocephalia that first evolved over 200 million years ago.

Glossary

Rights: Peter Morrison, Crown copyright, Department of Conservation. 2009
Published: 3 November 2009Size: 4.21 MB
Referencing Hub media

Explore related content

Appears inRelated resources
Tuatara

Article

Tuatara

New Zealand’s endemic tuatara is a very unusual animal. They are the only living representative of a group of reptiles ...

Read more
Saving reptiles and amphibians – writer insight

Article

Saving reptiles and amphibians – writer insight

Cath Battersby

Read more
Saving reptiles and amphibians – introduction

Article

Saving reptiles and amphibians – introduction

New Zealand’s native species evolved in isolation from other regions for millions of years after the last land bridge to ...

Read more
Wētā

Article

Wētā

Wētā are endemic to New Zealand. They are quite large compared to other insects, with some weighing more than a ...

Read more
New Zealand butterfly origins

Article

New Zealand butterfly origins

Butterflies make very poor fossils. They have no bones or other solid matter that can be preserved. Therefore, unlike other ...

Read more
Tuatara

Article

Tuatara

New Zealand’s endemic tuatara is a very unusual animal. They are the only living representative of a group of reptiles ...

Read more

See our newsletters here.

NewsEventsAboutContact usPrivacyCopyrightHelp

The Science Learning Hub Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao is funded through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Science in Society Initiative.

Science Learning Hub Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao © 2007-2025 The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato