File:Tuatara Sphenodon punctatus standing proud.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
Sphenodon punctatus. Tuatara in front of its burrow at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. The Tuatara isn't a lizard - according the the Wikipedia entry about Tuatara: "Its origin probably lies close to the split between the Lepidosauromorpha and the Archosauromorpha, making it the closest living thing we can find to a "proto-reptile".
Live baby dinosaur discovered in New Zealand - by Terrence Aym - Helium
[...]Meet the tuataras[....]
Often called living fossils by those who know they really do exist, the tuataras sure might look like a lizard, but they're not. The tuatara is really a living dinosaur that belongs to the order Rhynchocephalia. That order of dinosaur became extinct about 60 million years in the past. All went extinct…except the tuataras.
Fascinating tuataras facts
1. These little dinosaurs only require a breath of air once an hour.
2. They don't drink water.
3. They have three eyes. Every tuataras sports a third pineal eye on top of their heads that has a retina and primitive lens. The eye is functional—it's connected to the brain. By the time the dinosaurs become adults the third eye is overgrown with skin and no longer functions.
4. Some researchers believe the third eye evolved to protect the babies from flying predators that might swoop down from the sky.
4. Female tuataras carry their eggs for four years.
Tuatara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cladogram showing relationships of extant members of the Sauria.[15] Numbered items are:
1. Tuatara
2. Lizards
3. Snakes
4. Crocodiles
5. Birds
"Lizards" are paraphyletic. Branch lengths do not indicate divergence times.
Current distribution of tuatara (in black).[57][58][59] Circles represent the North Island tuatara, squares the Brothers Island tuatara. Symbols may represent up to seven islands.
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