Ancient lizard - The salamander (Sphenodon punctatus)

In New Zealand and nearby islands there is a very strange primitive animal. The figure looks like a lizard but is not a lizard. The mouth is very similar to a beak, so it is called a bird lizard, a folk called a salamander. It was an ancient reptile 200 million years ago.

(Photo: ryanphotographic)

The salamand is 30-60m long, the head bone has 2 big ears. The teeth of the jawbone, not the gums. It has a very large triangular head, an on the head with a degenerate forehead, very afraid of light. Therefore, during the day, he hid in the cave, in the evening, he went out to get food. Often they go to wet places or near the shore to find molluscs or crustaceans, mollusks.

The salamanders rarely dig themselves, preferring to live with seabirds. Although the two parties do not share the same voice, they still live peacefully. In New Zealand, there are millions of sea oysters to dig into the nesting season. The salamander on the nest of nests is as natural as entering your home. Bird feces are a source of food for many insects, and insects are a good food of salamanders, whereby eggs and young birds are not afraid of being harmed by insects, born peacefully. The salamanders also lay eggs there, each time laying 8-15 fruits and hamlets 15 months to hatch, to 20 years of age to mature, living longer than 100 years.

Iguana appeared more than 200 million years ago. At that time, there were many salamanders, widely distributed all over the world. After many years of survival and development, the appearance as well as the structure inside the salamander is still unchanged, so it is considered a living fossil. Also because the air temperature outside turns into natural changes, the salamander body does not have the function of air conditioning, so now they are only distributed in relatively warm areas.

(Photo: ryanphotographic)