VESTIGIAL ORGANS 



259 



remarkable New Zealand reptile the tuatara (Sphenodonpunctatas). 

 This animal (Fig. 113) is usually regarded as the oldest surviving 



FIG. 113. The New Zealand Tuitara, X . (Drawn by Miss V. E. Dondy 

 from a model and photographs.) 



type of terrestrial vertebrate, the order to which it belongs (the 

 Rhynchocephalia) dating back to the close of the Palaeozoic period 

 of the earth's history (Permian epoch). 



In the adult tuatara there is still a fairly well developed pineal 



FIG. 114. Section through the Pineal Eye of the Tuatara, X 68 (From 



photograph.) 



le., lens ; n., nerve ; ret., retina. 



eye (Fig. 114), with retina, lens and nerve, but it is only about 

 inch in diameter and lies deeply buried beneath the 



s 2 



