'Living fossil' confirmed in New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A reptile with lineage dating from the dinosaur age has been found nesting in New Zealand for the first time in 200 years, sanctuary officials said.

The greenish brown tuatara is the world's only remaining lizard-like reptile from the Sphenodontia order that flourished in the Mesozoic Era, known as the Age of Reptiles, about 225 million years ago.

Every other species in the order became extinct about 60 million years ago, leading scientists to refer to tuatara as "living fossils," The New Zealand Herald reported.

The discovery came during routine maintenance work in Wellington's Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, when staff members uncovered four leathery white eggs the size of Ping-Pong balls, officials said.

The discovery "is the first concrete proof we have that our tuatara are breeding," Conservation Manager Raewyn Empson told The New Zealand Herald.

The eggs were probably laid a year ago in a shallow trench dug by the female and then backfilled, officials said.

Other than guarding the nest for a few days to prevent other females from digging it up, the female has no other maternal responsibility, they said.

If the eggs incubate properly, young tuatara could hatch between now and March, they said.

For the first six months the tuatara's legendary "third eye" -- actually a light-sensitive pineal gland -- will be visible as a white patch on its forehead.