Home - Taxonomy - Geography - Biodiversity - Literature - Purchase RepFocus Recent updates © Rune Midtgaard Taxonomy of the family Sphenodontidae Bibliography of the genus Sphenodon Biodiversity of the family Sphenodontidae Genus Sphenodon Tuataras Brückenechsen Tuataraer, Broøgler 1831 Sphaenodon Gray [incorrect original spelling: see below] (type species: not designated, but identical with Hatteria punctata Gray 1842; syn. Wermuth & Mertens 1977) 1831 Sphenodon Gray [nomen emendatum et conservatum: emended first by Gray 1872; see International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1957): Opinion 455] (type species: Hatteria punctata Gray 1842) 1842 Hatteria Gray (type species: Hatteria punctata Gray 184) (syn. Wermuth & Mertens 1977) 1845 Rhynchocephalus Owen [not Waldheim 1806 (Insecta)] (type species: Hatteria punctata Gray 1842) Contents: 1 species, which is endemic. Endemism: 0% 100% Distribution: As for the single species. Sphenodon punctatus Tuatara, Beak-head Brückenechse Tuatara, Broøgle 1842 Hatteria punctata Gray Sphenodon punctatum Gray 1872 1876 Sphenodon guntheri Buller (Hay, Sarre, Lambert, Allendorf & Daugherty 2010) Sphenodon punctatus guentheri Wettstein 1936 [emendation] 1895 Hatteria viridis Bölsche (Fawcett & Smith 1970) 1943 Sphenodon punctatus reischeki Wettstein Other common names: guentheri: Brothers Island Tuatara, North Brother Island Tuatara, (Günther's Tuatara) punctatus: Cook Strait Tuatara Remarks: Daugherty, Cree, Hay & Thompson (1990) revalidated guentheri as a separate species, but Hay, Sarre, Lambert, Allendorf & Daugherty (2010) synonymized it again with punctatus. See also Thompson, Daugherty, Cree, French, Gillingham & Barwick (1992). Individuals from the islands in the Cook Strait may prove to be a distinct subspecies. The subspecies reischeki (known only from Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf) may be extinct. It has not been seen since the late 1970s. Previously, guentheri was restricted to North Brother Island, but it has now been introduced to several other islands in the Cook Strait. Distribution: New Zealand (Cook Strait Islands, North Island: outlying islands). Sphenodon punctatus © Rune Midtgaard