Prehistoric-Aged Reptile Found Breeding

Dragon-Like Tuatara Eggs Discovered By Accident At Wildlife Reserve In New Zealand

(AP)  A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, officials said Friday.

Four leathery, white eggs from an indigenous tuatara were found by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital, Wellington, during routine maintenance work Friday, conservation manager Rouen Epson said.

"The nest was uncovered by accident and is the first concrete proof we have that our tuatara are breeding," Epson said. "It suggests that there may be other nests in the sanctuary we don't know of."

Tuatara, dragon-like reptiles that grow to up to 32 inches, are the last descendants of a species that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.

They have unique characteristics, such as two rows of top teeth closing over one row at the bottom. They also have a pronounced parietal eye, a light-sensitive pineal gland on the top of the skull. This white patch of skin - called its "third eye" - slowly disappears as they mature.

A native species to New Zealand, tuatara were nearly extinct on the country's three main islands by the late 1700s due to the introduction of predators such as rats. They still live in the wild on 32 small offshore islands cleared of predators.

A population of 70 tuatara was established at the Karori Sanctuary in 2005. Another 130 were released in the sanctuary in 2007.

The sanctuary, a 620-acre wilderness minutes from downtown Wellington, was established to breed native birds, insects and other creatures securely behind a predator-proof fence.

Empson said that the four eggs - the size of pingpong balls - were unearthed Friday but that there were likely more because the average nest contains around ten eggs.

The eggs were immediately covered up again to avoid disturbing incubation.

If all goes well, juvenile tuatara could hatch any time between now and March, she said.

[truthislife1]

Sure am glad to know people saw these 200 million years ago.

[verituscredo]

Uh, people didn''t see this species 200 million years ago because people didn''t exist then as such. Paleontologists have however apparently seen ancestors of this species in fossil records which date back to that time though, which is how they are able to make this kind of statement.

[gop_will_win]

Posted by VeritusCredo
============================
Fossils are planted in the ground by Satan in hopes one day man will dig them up and lose faith in God.

[connapa]

Read carefully. People hadn''t seen them in WELLINGTON for about 200 years- not millions. They were driven to extinction in and around wellington due to the introduction of other animals courtesy of us humans.

[govwatch-2009]

If evolution is a true process as some like to imagine, then why hasn''t this animal evolved in 223 million years? When supposedly everything else has. What, did it just get stuck? Too much welfare for natural selection to take place?

[antoniof123]

If evolution is a true process as some like to imagine, then why hasn''''t this animal evolved in 223 million years? When supposedly everything else has. What, did it just get stuck? Too much welfare for natural selection to take place?
Posted by govwatch at 09:44 AM : Oct 31, 2008

Good right wing sound bite but that is all it is.

DID YOU READ THE STORY IT WAS ONLY 200 YEARS THAT THIS ANIMAL HAS NOT BEEN SEEN.

[superdem]

Evolutionary changes don''t happen just because time has passed, they happen in response to environmental demands as survival adaptations. If the tuatara is perfectly adapted to its environment, it will never need to change, and won''t. But look at the iguanas that landed on the Galapagos Islands. They originally came from South America, where vegetation is abundant on land. South American iguanas are terrestrial vegetarians, but in the Galapagos, where the islands are volcanic and support very little vegetation, the iguanas have adapted to swim into the sea to graze on seaweeds growing on the rocks. It was that or die. The marine iguanas are different morphologically from their more terrestial cousins. That''s evolution.

[oscarez]

Fossils are planted in the ground by Satan in hopes one day man will dig them up and lose faith in God.

Posted by gop_will_win at 09:06 AM : Oct 31, 2008

There is no God and there is no Satan so how can this be.

[oscarez]

superdem - Thank you.

[gop_will_win]

There is no God and there is no Satan so how can this be.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Oscarez
===================
Easy, your thinking is wrong.

[gop_will_win]

Evolutionary changes don''''t happen just because time has passed, they happen in response to environmental demands as survival adaptations. If the tuatara is perfectly adapted to its environment, it will never need to change, and won''''t. But look at the iguanas that landed on the Galapagos Islands. They originally came from South America, where vegetation is abundant on land. South American iguanas are terrestrial vegetarians, but in the Galapagos, where the islands are volcanic and support very little vegetation, the iguanas have adapted to swim into the sea to graze on seaweeds growing on the rocks. It was that or die. The marine iguanas are different morphologically from their more terrestial cousins. That''''s evolution.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by superdem
========================
Hogwash! God created this creature and his creation was perfect so it does not need design revisions.

[oscarez]

Easy, your thinking is wrong.

Posted by gop_will_Win at 10:19 AM : Oct 31, 2008

Can you prove that God and Satan exist? If you believe in God and in healing prayer and miracles why do amputated legs not regenerate?

[gop_will_win]

Can you prove that God and Satan exist? If you believe in God and in healing prayer and miracles why do amputated legs not regenerate?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Oscarez
======================
Because God took them away for sinning.

[reallyme2]

I knew as soon as I saw the headline it would bring out the anti-science crowd.

[mapleleaflv]

i can''t believe so many ppl are tricked to believe there is a god.

[oscarez]

Because God took them away for sinning.

Posted by gop_will_Win at 10:42 AM : Oct 31, 2008

For sinning, even little children?

[pfness]

Fossils are planted in the ground by Satan in hopes one day man will dig them up and lose faith in God.
Posted by Oscarez

There is no God and there is no Satan so how can this be. Posted by gop_will_win
_____________________________________________________

THOSE HAVE GOT TO BE THE TWO MOST STUPID SENTENCES I HAVE SEEN IN MY WHOLE LIFE!!
No wonder some people don''t believe in Christianity anymore...can''t you just see Satan going around like Johnny Appleseed planting fossils? Duh!
And to say there is no God....well...what can I say to that? Other than there is a God and his name is Jesus. He robed himself in flesh and came to earth to die for our sins. We are buried with him in baptism and risen to walk in a newness of life.
I could just prop my feet up on the desk and say "you just wait and see", but as Christians, that isn''t our mission to stay smug and confident in our own self righteousness. Our mission is to tell the world that God does exist and that He died for our sins. After that, it''s up to God to change your life and your thinking. God calls people that will serve him. And since WE don''t know who those people are, WE tell everyone. That''s our job as Christians.
As for Satan, he gets wayyy too much credit. Statements like the fossil thing do more to turn people away from Jesus than any thing Satan can drum up!!!

[oscarez]

"And to say there is no God....well...what can I say to that? Other than there is a God and his name is Jesus."

Prove it!!! All I am askng you to do is prove there is a God named Jesus.

[oscarez]

"Our mission is to tell the world that God does exist and that He died for our sins."

I stopped believing this Hog Wash when I was 15 years old. How old are you?

[kashmirbaby]

I''m confused as to why news that a prehistoric reptile that was near extinction is actually breeding has anything to do with God vs. Satan? Isn''t this just something to be happy about? Hooray, another animal will be around for my children to see!! Well, at least that''s how I look at it.

[inventagod2]

so much time and energy wasted on religion

[markavelli2]

pfness, prove it.

St. Paul himself couldn''t prove it. Even he took the word of others, then became a believer.

[oscarez]

kashmirbaby - Just responding to gop_will_Win''s insightful statement. You do know the earth is only 6000 years old. just ask gop_will_Win.

[dana417]

In The Flori-Duh Keys, people shoot these things with air guns and drown them because they''re not naitive and eat their non-native plants. Many of us do not like it but it is totally legal to "Humanely" put them in the freezer.

[notblue]

chilitoz.com??? LOL! The same idiots that drink the Obama kool-aid beleive this site is for real! Tooo Funny!

[eggy1620]

God will punish this little critter for being dirty and breeding out of wedlock. Just like he will punish Palin and her daughters sins on Tuesday.

[mswolfestock]

I knew as soon as I saw the headline it would bring out the anti-science crowd.

Posted by ReallyMe2 -

They are worse than anti-science - they are anti-education, anti-knowledge. They all live in a world of blissful ignorance. These are the Know-Nothing crowd, very much like Bushit and McBush. But the biggest Know-Nothing is the Caribou Barbie, dontcha know, by golly, ya''r *** tootin''!

[kashmirbaby]

yeah...about that - not a big fan of gop_will_win. Not a big fan at all...and wow, only 6000 years old? Genius.

[darkfyreaol]

Tuatara, dragon-like reptiles that grow to up to 32 inches, are the last descendants of a species that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.
---------

As are the alligators, sharks, crocodiles, komodo dragons, iguanas, and snakes.

[slim1h2o]

Prehistoric-Aged Reptile Found Breeding

Oh,,,,, I thought they were talking about D. Cheney.

And I was yelling at the computer,,shoot it,, shoot it.

But never mind,,,,,,

(sarcasm)

[truthislife1]

Call me crazy, but if one does the exponential math, there is no possible way that life existed on earth for a million years. We would have people piled 17 miles high on the planet if we existed even a million years. Good thing the flood happened. Still quite a bit of water out there.

[oscarez]

truthislife1 there are some great schools that can help you with these questions.

[pfness]

pfness, prove it. St. Paul himself couldn''''t prove it. Even he took the word of others, then became a believer. Posted by markavelli2
____________________________________________________

No he didn''t. He was struck temporarliy blind on the road to Demascus. He had a conversation with Jesus right there. Jesus said "I am Jesus whom thou pursecutest".
So, the question is now....Do you believe the bible at all?
When I was a teen I started reading the bible at home. After awhile, I wanted to find a church.
The problem with the world today is that it only sees Christianity as "Catholic". The Catholics changed wayyy to many things at the council of Nicea. back in or around 325-425, when ever it was. You''ll probably fault me for not looking that up...
Anyway...if Children are raised believing that stuff and then read the bible later, I can see how they would lose their faith in anything.
No, I would not even want to try to prove anything to you. Maybe by the Grace of God you''ll receive a revelation like Paul did. Or you''ll look into the bible and find it like I did. No one ever asked me to go to church. I knew what I believed before I ever walked through the door of the church many many years ago. I believe what the bible says. You can believe anything you want. It''s still a free country...

Yes, I agree, to be educated by atheists is a detriment to religion. But it has nothing to do with the intelligence of people who did not sit under such teachings.

[josh125a]

"Call me crazy, but if one does the exponential math, there is no possible way that life existed on earth for a million years. We would have people piled 17 miles high on the planet if we existed even a million years."

uh, truthislife1, you''re crazy. if you understood even basic ecology you''d know that population is a function of food supply. when humans all lived as tribes, those tribes developed a natural equilibrium with the rest of the environment and the other species around them. those other species did the same. human population only started growing exponentially since the agricultural revolution (when humans started controlling food production instead of simply feeding on what was around naturally). coincidentally, this is the same time that civilization and all the things that go along with it also developed including economics and every current major world religion. during the time before civilization, human population was growing LINEARLY, not exponentially. and if you just look around, you''ll see that humans are the only species now growing exponentially, being the only species to take food production into its own hands. if what you said was true, EVERY species would be piled 17 miles up. try reading a book other than the bible every now and then. sometimes it helps...

[briannorwood]

Prehistoric reptiles caught breeding?

Don''t tell me...the press corps caught Cindy and John McCain making whoppie in the back of the "Straight Talk Express" again!

[rjsparling]

Exponential math was done once - it determined that more people have lived in the last 200 years than the rest of the the history of man. Hence the emergence of the problems that come with overpopulation.

[generey]

Just my ex-mummy-in-law, but she is very very evil so be careful!

[dburfears]

"Prehistoric" is just science. We really know that nothing on Earth is older than 6,000 years- Sarah Palin.

[inketolstoy]

And I thought this was going to be another article about Madonna''s newest affair. Oh well, maybe next week.

[truthislife1]

All of you people who shoved away faith in Jesus as a child will again have to face that faith.

[inventagod2]

Hey religoids - get off this board.
This story is about old lizards, not old geezers...

[truthislife1]

I did''nt know 42 would be a candidate for an old geezer, nonetheless, it was quite funny.

[rushlimpdrug]

My fellow Americans we need to stop sending
politicians to New Zealand,

[hypnotoad72]

Close the door to the bedroom and go buy a Playboy from whereMart... that''s nobody''s business as to what they do, you know!

[truthislife1]

Religion turns off the brains of its victims.

See proof in the postings below.
Posted by jMcGilvray at 04:14 AM : Nov 01, 2008

Good thing I''m not religious!

[caliengineer]

Yes, "religion" including the religion of evolution, turns off the brains of its victims.

The hypothesis of evolution has been evolving heavily over the last two decades. A law does not do that.

If you believe in evolution, and you can''t explain why there are ZERO intermediary species leading to man, then you fail. (Yes, I know they faked some, but ALL of those have been debunked when they were shown to be fabricated by pranksters, clowns and dying career archeologists.
you will find whatever you seek. Evolution: hiding cave of lovers of corruption.

[truthislife1]

If I looked at a brand new Steinway piano with all it''s 12,000 parts and said that it had no design would be proof that I turned off my brain.

[hsinco-2009]

Prehistoric-Aged Reptile Found Breeding

Oh, that McCain is fighsty!!!

Posted by onemoretim at 08:56 AM : Nov 01, 2008

A good reason to ban Viagra!