34- The Tuatara
On the show today, we discuss the tuatara- two (or possibly only one) species of reptile which are the final representatives of an ancient lineage. I didn't really go into it in the main episode, but there appears to be some debate about whether or not the tuatara is one species or two. All the sources I'd used in this week's episode list two species, but I afterwards discovered an article from the journal 'Conservation Genetics' which concluded that the tuatara should probably be thought of as one species instead of two. I might come back to it in a future episode. The paper in question is: Hay, J. M., Sarre, Stephen D., Lambert, D. M., Allendorf, F. W. and Daugherty, C. H. (2010), Genetic diversity and taxonomy: a reassessment of species designation in tuatara (Sphenodon: Reptilia), Conservation Genetics 11: 1063-1081.
Sources for this episode: 1) Blythe, C. A., Encyclopaedia Britannica (2021), New Zealand (online) [Accessed 28/03/2021]. 2) Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B. (2018), Biology: a global approach, 11th edition (Global Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Limited. 3) Cooke, F., Dingle, H., Hutchinson, S., McKay, G., Schodde, R., Tait, N. and Vogt, R. (2008), The Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide (p.370). Sydney: Weldon Owen Pty Ltd. 4) Thain, M. and Hickman, M. (2014), Dictionary of Biology (Eleventh Edition). London: Penguin Books Ltd. 5) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Rhynchocephalia (online) [Accessed 28/03/2021].