The dinosaur-age reptile with a real third eye on its head
This reptile has a hidden third eye on top of its head and predates the dinosaurs' relatives.
Which one is REALLY true about the Tuatara?
The short version
The tuatara of New Zealand looks like a lizard but is the last survivor of its own ancient order, with ancestors from 200+ million years ago. It has a real 'third eye' on top of its skull, with a lens and retina, sensitive to light. It lives impossibly slowly — holding its breath ~an hour, growing for decades, and living past 100.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Tuatara has a real third eye on top of its skull, complete with a lens and a retina that senses light.
- ✓The Tuatara looks like a lizard but belongs to its own ancient group with no close living relatives.
- ✓The Tuatara comes from a line of reptiles that walked the Earth over two hundred million years ago, making it a true living fossil.
- ✓The Tuatara can hold its breath for around an hour.
- ✓The Tuatara keeps growing for decades and can live well past a hundred years old.
You could line up about 2 of them along a 7-year-old!
The full story
This reptile has a hidden third eye on the top of its head, and it has barely changed since the age of the dinosaurs. Meet the tuatara, a strange creature from New Zealand that looks like a lizard, but actually belongs to its own ancient group with no close living relatives. Its ancestors walked the Earth over two hundred million years ago, making it a true living fossil. On top of its skull sits a real third eye, complete with a lens and a retina, which is sensitive to light and probably helps it track the seasons. The tuatara also lives life impossibly slowly. It can hold its breath for around an hour, it keeps growing for decades, and it can live well past a hundred years old. A dinosaur-age survivor that is still watching the sky. Follow for more weird animal facts.
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“The Tuatara has a real third eye on top of its skull, complete with a lens and a retina that senses light.”
“The Tuatara throws up a meal of blood into a starving friend's mouth to keep it alive.”
“The Tuatara looks like a lizard but belongs to its own ancient group with no close living relatives.”