berk is having a bit of a hard time post-endwalker, post-pandaemonium

quote taken from a poem by richard siken

womp womp

it’s because Bug’s gender is, has been and always will be yes

I believe it’s better described as “Yes, and…”

Bugs’ pronouns are the/bit.

The Tricky Tuatara

Don’t be fooled– that’s no lizard. The (in)famous northern tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) is the sole living member of the order Rhynchocephalia, which is more of a distant cousin to reptiles than a direct relative. For comparison, humans are more closely related to kangaroos than tuataras are to other reptiles. In fact, many biologists believe that they are perhaps the closest thing we have to dinosaurs, although they’ve still evolved far beyond their Jurassic ancestors.

There are several traits that distinguish S. punctatus from other reptiles. Much of their skeletal structure is more primitive than that of squamates– lizards and snakes– and their skulls especially show a basic structure that is more similar to dinosaurs. They also have special rib-like bones called gastralia that are considered an ancestral trait of reptiles, and which are also found in crocodiles. Their vertebrae are hourglass shaped and are more comparable to those of amphibians, and unlike other reptiles their teeth are fused directly to their jaws. Like turtles, they lack eardrums and external holes, and their ears are filled with fatty fluid. Conversely, they have almost 500 odour receptors– about as many as birds. Finally, tuataras have a third eye known as a parietal eye on the top of their head. This eye can only sense changes in light and is usually covered by scales; some scientists think it may help with thermoregulation. Other reptiles also have a parietal eye, but it’s most pronounced in tuataras.

Aside from these unique characteristics, S. punctatus bears a close resemblance to its reptilian relatives. Their scales are hard, granular, and often resemble those of crocodiles or turtles. They can be grey, green, or reddish brown– or change between all three– and males have a prominent crest on the back. Males also tend to be slightly larger than females, coming in at 61cm in length and up to 1kg. This also makes it New Zealand’s largest reptile. Like some of its lizard cousins, tuatara have the ability to lose their tails when grabbed by a predator and then regrow it later.

Although they grow rapidly, shedding their skin three or four times a year as juveniles, tuataras live incredibly long lives.  They reach sexual maturity at anywhere from 10 to 20 years old and can live to be over 70. Tuatara also reproduce very slowly; females only lay a clutch once every four years. This is because yearly mating occurs in the fall but the eggs aren’t laid until the following spring at the very earliest, and then they must be incubated for another 12-15 months. Like other reptiles, the sex of the hatchlings depends on the temperature during incubation; warmer temperatures produce more males and cooler temperature produce females. There is little evidence to indicate parental care after hatching, and most adults are solitary. They can also be highly territorial, and are known to kill and eat young tuataras.

S. Punctatus is a nocturnal reptile, and they typically sleep in burrows or in a sunny patch nearby during the day. At night they look for food– namely insects, rodents, or bird eggs. Tuataras have incredibly slow metabolisms, so they only need to eat occasionally. Older tuataras also have more worn down or missing teeth, which makes them unable to hunt as effectively. S. punctatus has no natural predators, but introduced predators include rodents and dogs.

Conservation status: The IUCN rates tuataras as Least Concern, but they are currently listed as Appendix I by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which in effect bans any trade or transport of the species without strict authorization. Their primary threat is habitat loss and low genetic diversity, which provides an additional incentive to prevent removal of the species from their native habitat.

Photos

Shaun Barnett

Ross Henry

Bernard Spragg

@emeraldbirdcollector​ asked: I thought birds WERE dinosaurs, and crocodilians their nearest non-dinosaur kin?

An excellent question, and an excuse to talk about my favorite subject: taxonomy! So. Taxonomy is the study and classification of species. Originally this was done according to their morphology- the structure of their bodies. In recent years, however, taxonomy has largely become based on genetics. This has meant a lot of reshuffling of a lot of things, but that’s an entirely different discussion. What this means now, though, is that we’re able to trace a lot of lineages back millions of years.

What does this have to do with birds, you ask? Well, the use of genetics has confirmed that birds are A: very close descent of theropods, which were a type of dinosaur that lived in the late Triassic period, and B: are also related to other reptiles. (If you want to have lots of fun, ask a biologist whether birds are reptiles. There’s a lot of opinions about it.)

Here is a decent representation of the complicated relationship between reptiles, birds, and dinosaurs:

As you can see, reptiles like “lizards”, snakes, and tuataras have a much earlier divergence than birds do. Birds are also a separate lineage from dinosaurs, although they are a more recent divergence. As you can see, crocodiles are also a more recent divergence from the same lineage as birds, but they’re on the other end– they diverged before what we consider to be “dinosaurs” emerged.

So to answer your question, birds are not dinosaurs. Nothing is dinosaurs. They’re dead. But they are the great x one million grandchildren of dinosaurs, and crocodilians are the next closest divergence on the evolutionary tree. Tuataras and their ancestors are even older, which is why many people consider them to be a living fossil– not only is their lineage ancient, but the tuataras we know today are the last surviving member of what once was a very large and diverse group.

You are extremely, extremely wrong.

Bird evolved directly from dinosaurs

We know this.

And since we define dinosaurs based on common ancestry, that makes them all dinosaurs. And tuatara are not.

You literally have a cladistic tree in your avatar

You can literally see birds branch off from dinosaurs in that picture

Where did you even get it

If you go on Wikipedia,

On Google

Any recent textbook (last twenty years)

Ask an ornithologist

Ask a paleontologist

Ask any expert

They will all say birds are dinosaurs

The Jurassic park films openly say it

Walking with Dinosaurs openly says it

Every Dino doc since 1990 openly says it

Are you trying to kill me

Next time, do research before you talk

I have literally never read anything more wrong in my entire life. You’re just as bad as a creationist. It’s like you went out of your way to be wrong.

Stop. Just stop.