Abstract
PROF. A. DENDY, professor of biology in Canterbury College, New Zealand, has been engaged for the past two-years in investigating the development of the Tuatara Lizard, perhaps the most remarkable animal now living in New Zealand, and the oldest existing type of reptile. A short summary of the principal scientific results obtained was sent to London just in time to be laid before the Royal Society at its final meeting for the session in June last. The memoir itself, containing a detailed account of the general development, with numerous illustrations, has now arrived in England, and will shortly be published. Meanwhile, the following particulars, published in the Christchurck Press; will be of interest to naturalists:—The development of the Tuatara presents several remarkable features. The eggs are laid in November, and on Stephen's Island take about thirteen months to hatch, the embryos passing the winter in a state of hybernation, unknown in any other vertebrate embryos. Before entering upon their winter sleep the nostrils of the embry become completely plugged up by a growth of cellular tissue. The embryos obtained have been classified in sixteen stages. The early stages of development are singularly like the corresponding stages in the Chelonia, especially as regards the fœtal membranes; there being a long canal behind the embryo leading to the exterior, and known as the posterior amniotic canal, which has hitherto been found only in Chelonians, in which it was discovered a few years ago by Prof. Mitsukuri, of Tokyo.
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The Developments of the Tuatara Lizard. Nature 58, 609–610 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/058609b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/058609b0