Tuatara
Male tuatara
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Sphenodontia
Family:	Sphenodontidae
Genus:	Sphenodon Gray, 1831
Species
Sphenodon punctatus (Gray, 1842) Sphenodon guntheri (Buller, 1877) Sphenodon diversum Colenso, 1885 (extinct)
black: range (northern New Zealand)
Synonyms
Hatteria punctata, Gray 1842

Skeleton of Sphenodon

The Tuatara are reptiles which look like lizards. However, they are the only surviving member of an order of reptiles which flourished 200 million years ago.

There is now only the genus Sphenodon, with two species of Tuatara. Both are endemic to (only live in) New Zealand. Lizards and snakes are the closest living relatives of the tuatara.

Tuatara are green-brown, and measure up to 80 cm from head to the end of their tail. They have a spiny crest along the back: the Maori word tuatara refers to this.The crest is more pronounced in males. Tuatara are special in many ways. One of these is the pattern of their teeth. They have two rows of teeth in the upper jaw overlap one row on the lower jaw. This is unique among living species.