380 THE ANIMALS OP NEW ZEALAND 



The Ornamented Lizard. 



Lygosoma ornatum. 



Yellowish or reddish brown above; each scale with several fine darker 

 lines. Sides, brown, with dark l)rown and yellowisli markings. A yellow, 

 dark-edged spot below the eye. Lower surface, yellowish; uniform or 

 spotted with brown. Tail, thick, about as long as head and body. A 

 small transparent disc is sometimes, but not generally, present on the 

 lower eyelid. There are 28 to 30 rows of scales round the middle of the 

 body. Length, about 5 inches. Auckland district. Very like the last 

 species. 



Order Rhynchocephallv. 



Lizard-like animals, but with considerable differences in the 

 skeleton, among which are a well-developed breast-bone and 

 abdominal ribs. They are considered to be the most generalised 

 of all living reptiles, approaching the amphibia. Their affinities 

 are equally close to the turtles and to the lizards ; and they form 

 one of the oldest known reptilian types. Li the newer Creta- 

 ceous Period an aquatic form lived in North America and 

 Europe. 



Genus Sphenodon. 



Scales on the upper surface small and granular, intermixed 

 with small tubercles; those of the lower surface large and 

 transverse. No ear openings. Tail compressed. Toes webbed at 

 the base. A low crest along the neck, back, and tail. Two 

 parallel rows of teeth in the upper part of the mouth. New 

 Zealand only. The nearest ally to S])henodon is Homa?osaurus, 

 which lived in Europe in the Jurassic Period. 



The Tuatara. 



Sphenodon punctatus. 



Yellowish, or greenish olive with yellow spots. Length, up to 20 in. 

 The female is larger than the male, and generally darker in colour. 



Formerly, the tuatara lived in large numbers on both the main 

 islands of New Zealand, but it is now seldom found anywhere 



