Tuatara

Tuatara

The tuatara is an amazing animal for a number of reasons.  The first has to do with the fact that it belongs to a group of reptiles which exists nowhere else in the world other than New Zealand.  It is not a lizard, crocodile, turtle, or snake.  It is a tuatara, the fifth group of reptiles which many people don't know about.  They are endangered because of the activities of man; we are wiping them out.
The first method of extinction has to do with us bringing invasive species into their habitat.  This includes rats, mice, possoms, weasels, cats, and dogs.  Each of these preys upon the tuatara, the eggs of the tuatara, or the young of the tuatara.
The second method of extinction has to do with global warming.  They do well enough in the heat, that is not the problem.  The problem is in the eggs.  If the eggs are cool enough, you get a female.  If they are warmer, you get a male.  Lately most of the tuatars have been male - you can imagine that getting a date would become increasingly difficult.
Although tuataras are very long lived, they also take a long time before they can breed.  So the problem then is that a tuatara has to live long enough to become sexually mature, it has to lay eggs in a place cool enough to produce females, and it has to be safe enough that the eggs, young, and adults aren't destroyed before being able to reproduce.
Tuataras are gone from the mainland.  They exist now only on remote islands far offshore.  They have to be protected from invasive species and will require our help to ensure their survival.  How many species have we wiped off the planet already?  Will the tuatara be another one in the near future?