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New Zealand · Nature & Wildlife · Hard
What is the tuatara, a reptile endemic to the country often called a 'living fossil'?
Answer: The sole surviving member of the order Rhynchocephalia, which flourished 200 million years ago — The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) is not a lizard ΓÇö it belongs to a distinct reptilian order that diverged from squamates (lizards and snakes) over 240 million years ago, making it a genuine evolutionary relic.
- A The sole surviving member of the order Rhynchocephalia, which flourished 200 million years ago ✓
- B A type of iguana
- C A species of skink
- D A gecko variant
The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) is not a lizard ΓÇö it belongs to a distinct reptilian order that diverged from squamates (lizards and snakes) over 240 million years ago, making it a genuine evolutionary relic.