tuataran.
/tʊaˈtara//tuːəˈtɑːrə/ A large lizard, Sphenodon punctatum or Hatteria punctata, dark bronze green in colour with white or yellowish specks, and having a dorsal row of yellow spines, formerly common in New Zealand: see quot. 1911.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Rhynchocephalia (tuatara) > [noun] > member of (tuatara)
guana1589
rhynchocephalian1871
sphenodon1878
tuatara1890
1820 Gram. & Voc. N. Zealand 218 Túa tára, a species of lizard.]
1890 Catal. N. Zealand Exhib. The Tuatara is the largest existing New Zealand reptile. It..is placed..in a separate order (Rhyncocephalina).
1911 C. de Thierry in United Empire Mar. 183 One of the peculiar animals from which scientists have estimated the probable age of New Zealand is the tuatara, a small lizard about a foot in length and of a dark bronze colour. It is extinct on the mainland but is still to be found on the shores of the outlying islands.
1914 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 750/2 The extraordinary characteristic of the tuatara is its capacity for perfect rest, and its apparent power of existing without food or water.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1890