tuatara

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tu·a·ta·ra

(to͞o′ə-tär′ə)

n. pl. tuatara or tu·a·ta·ras

Either of two lizardlike reptiles (Sphenodon punctatus or S. guntheri) that inhabit several small New Zealand islands and are the only extant members of the group Rhynchocephalia or Sphenodontia, which flourished during the Mesozoic Era. Also called sphenodon.

[Maori tuatara : tua, back + tara, spine.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tuatara

(ˌtuːəˈtɑːrə)

(Animals) a greenish-grey lizard-like rhynchocephalian reptile, Sphenodon punctatus, occurring only on certain small islands near New Zealand: it is the sole surviving member of a group common in Mesozoic times. Also called: hatteria

[C19: from Māori, from tua back + tara spine]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tu•a•ta•ra

(ˌtu əˈtɑr ə)

also tu•a•te•ra

(-ˈtɛər ə)

n., pl. -ras.

a large lizardlike reptile, Sphenodon punctatus, of New Zealand: the only surviving rhynchocephalian.

[1810–20;< Maori, =tua dorsal + tara spine]

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Noun

tuatara - only extant member of the order Rhynchocephalia of large spiny lizard-like diapsid reptiles of coastal islands off New Zealand

Sphenodon punctatum

diapsid, diapsid reptile - reptile having a pair of openings in the skull behind each eye

genus Sphenodon, Sphenodon - coextensive with the order Rhynchocephalia: tuataras

Translations

tuátara

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References in periodicals archive ?

Os repteis atualmente sao classificados em quatro Ordens viventes: Testudines (representada por Cagados, Jabutis e Tartarugas), Squamata (representada por Anfisbenas, Serpentes e Lagartos), Crocodylia (representada por Crocodilos, Jacares e Gaviais) e Sphenodontia (representada pelos Tuataras) (BERNARDE & MACHADO, 2006).

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The reptile segment (59 pages) covers all four reptilian orders: Testudines (turtles and tortoises), Crocodilia, Rhynchocephalia (tuataras), and Squamata (amphisbaenians, lizards, snakes).

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Tuataras are the last reptile on Earth that were on the planet at the same time as dinosaurs -- around 220 million years ago.

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The tuataras were thought to be a single species until 1990, when it was discovered that the population on the North Brother Island is very genetically distinct and belongs to a different species (S.

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Hedges and Poling provide some of the first DNA analysis of tuataras, a group of four-legged reptiles that look superficially like lizards and are regarded as their closest living relatives.