The extant (living) reptiles of New Zealand consist of numerous species of terrestrial lizards and the lizard-like tuatara, and several species of sea turtles and sea snakes. [1] All but one species are native to New Zealand, and all but one of the terrestrial species are endemic to New Zealand, that is, they are not found in any other country. Many species of foreign reptiles enter New Zealand through accidental importation or smuggling, [2] but only the Australian native Lampropholis delicata (rainbow skink or plague skink) has become established in the wild, [1] [2] and it is considered an invasive pest. [3]
Long-extinct taxa include numerous dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles that are known from fossils found in New Zealand.
Modern taxa
Extinct ancient taxa
Long-extinct taxa include numerous dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles that are known from fossils found in New Zealand. The New Zealand mosasaur, named Moanasaurus , was one of the largest mosasaurs in the world. The New Zealand plesiosaur is named Mauisaurus .
The Lepidosauria is a subclass or superorder of reptiles, containing the orders Squamata and Rhynchocephalia. Squamata also includes lizards and snakes. Squamata contains over 9,000 species, making it by far the most species-rich and diverse order of non-avian reptiles in the present day. Rhynchocephalia was a formerly widespread and diverse group of reptiles in the Mesozoic Era. However, it is represented by only one living species: the tuatara, a superficially lizard-like reptile native to New Zealand.
Lampropholis delicata, the delicate skink, dark-flecked garden sun skink, garden skink, delicate garden skink, rainbow skink or plague skink, or the metallic skink is native to Australia and invasive in New Zealand and Hawaii where it is commonly found in gardens. The species is known for their color dimorphism between males and females; striped morphs and non-striped morphs exist in this species, however the stripe is less pronounced in males. This species' diet consists of a wide range of prey, such as spiders, bees, larvae, and termites. Mating occurs in the late summer and generally one clutch of 2 to 4 eggs are laid per year by each female.
Sea kraits are a genus of venomous snakes, Laticauda. They are semiaquatic, and retain the wide ventral scales typical of terrestrial snakes for moving on land, but also have paddle-shaped tails for swimming. Unlike fully aquatic ovoviviparous sea snakes, sea kraits are oviparous and must come to land to digest prey and lay eggs. They also have independent evolutionary origins into aquatic habitats, with sea kraits diverging earlier from other Australasian elapids. Thus, sea kraits and sea snakes are an example of convergent evolution into aquatic habitats within the Hydrophiinae snakes. Sea kraits are also often confused with land kraits , which are not aquatic.
The wildlife of Réunion is composed of its flora, fauna and funga. Being a small island, it only has nine native species of mammals, but ninety-one species of birds.