Tuataras can grow to a little under three feet long and weigh up to almost three pounds, with males being slightly larger than females. Their skin is a greenish brown and grey to match their surroundings, with a crest of folded skin down their back. They can use this crest to attract females or stiffen to intimidate predators.

Tuataras have great eyesight. Each eye can focus independently and has three types of photoreceptive cells, which are used for seeing well in light and dark. Present in the various animals including the tuatara is its third eye or “parietal eye”, which is only visible when tuataras are hatchlings. As they mature, the third eye becomes covered in scales but is supposedly used to detect light and changes in the seasons.

The tail of the tuatara can be broken off to distract predators and will later regrow.

Tuataras have no visible earholes or eardrums. Even though their auditory structures are so poorly developed, they can still hear low frequencies.

The tuatara is a lizard-like reptile that can only be found in the shrubby and forested coasts of the 32 islands around New Zealand. Their ideal habitats usually include environments with crumbly soil so they can easily burrow in it.

Tuataras have a tooth arrangement unlike any other reptile; the lower jaw has a single row of teeth which fits between the upper jaw’s double row of teeth! Their teeth will soften and degrade with age causing them to switch to a softer diet later in life. Tuataras eat the usual lizard diet of beetles, crickets, spiders, and so on; however, adult tuataras are often seen feeding on younger, smaller ones. This causes the young tuataras to be active during the day to avoid the adults active at night.

Mating season for tuataras takes place in summer. Females mate every 2-5 years, while males can reproduce annually. Males will raise their crest and circle the female to show interest.

Once they mate, the female can take up to a year to lay a clutch of 1-19 soft eggs in a secluded burrow. The babies will hatch after 12-15 months, which is the longest period of incubation for any reptile, and immediately become independent!

Genetics plays a part in the sex of the babies as well as temperature. Warmer eggs tend to produce males, while colder eggs produces females.

The tuatara may resemble most lizards, but it is part of its own order known as Rhynchocephalia, or “beak-headed reptiles.” All other members of this group went extinct 60 million years ago leaving only the tuatara.

Tuataras got their name from the Maori phrase “tihi I runga I te hoki”, which translates to “peaks on the back.”

Tuataras can live over 100 years in the wild! Scientists believe this is due to their slow metabolism and the fact that they can stand cold temperatures by hibernating.