It’s never too late to be a daddy
Published 07 August, 2008, 14:17
For decades he showed no interest in mating. But after an operation to remove a cancerous growth from his genitals, a 111-year-old reptile from New Zealand has rediscovered his passion.
Now Henry the tuatara is to become a father again. A resident of the Southland Museum since 1970, he and his new young mate, Mildred, have laid a dozen eggs.
Tuataras are one of the oldest reptile species on Earth. The ancestry can be traced right back to the age of the dinosaurs.
Related to both snakes and lizards, they resemble iguanas. Native to New Zealand, Tuataras have an average lifespan of more than a hundred years.
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