Photos, characteristics, conservation status, and scientific name. This lizardlike reptile has many interesting features. One is its third eye, which has a lens and retina but no iris. In adults, skin thickens over the eye in opaque scales. The purpose of the eye is not known. Tuataras have a slow metabolism. They breathe about once every seven seconds, but they can go for an hour without a breath. Perhaps thats why they can live to be more than 100 years old. Tuataras also take it slow when it comes to breeding. After courtship and mating, nearly 10 months pass before a female lays eggs. An additional 12 months of incubation are necessary before the young hatch These reptiles are found only in New Zealand, where they fared well until the arrival of humans. People and their cats, dogs, rats and mice spelled disaster for tuataras. By the late 1800s, they were eliminated from the New Zealand mainland and were then confined to a number of small offshore islands.

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