Art
some sanding
Animal
Re-run from livejournal
The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) of New Zealand is not a lizard but one of the last surviving members of a mostly extinct group of reptiles the sphenodontians. They held the niche of lizards in the Mesozioc, but are completely unrelated to the lizards of Squamata today. Tuataras have a third eye with optic nerves in the center of their forehead that is visible when they are young and they have no external ears but can hear. Unlike all other living toothed reptiles they have an acrodont tooth structure which means that their teeth are fused to their jaw. They they have the slowest growth rate of the reptiles and a very slow rate of reproduction. Individuals can also live well over 100 years. For the Maori they are associated with Whiro the god of death and disaster. They are considered to indicate the borders between the mundane and the restricted sacred.
The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) of New Zealand is not a lizard but one of the last surviving members of a mostly extinct group of reptiles the sphenodontians. They held the niche of lizards in the Mesozioc, but are completely unrelated to the lizards of Squamata today. Tuataras have a third eye with optic nerves in the center of their forehead that is visible when they are young and they have no external ears but can hear. Unlike all other living toothed reptiles they have an acrodont tooth structure which means that their teeth are fused to their jaw. They they have the slowest growth rate of the reptiles and a very slow rate of reproduction. Individuals can also live well over 100 years. For the Maori they are associated with Whiro the god of death and disaster. They are considered to indicate the borders between the mundane and the restricted sacred.
Here is a picture showing that third socket in the center of the skull
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment