Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Environment Animals

This reptile chews food like a “steak knife”

The New Zealand tuatara (Sphenodon) is one of those unique animals that warrants revision for biology textbooks. The lizard-like reptile that is the only survivor of a group that was globally widespread at the time of the dinosaurs uses its highly specialised jaws to slice its food like a "steak knife". Typically, chewing is associated with high metabolism in animals, but in this instance this is far from being the case.

Dragos Mitrica by Dragos Mitrica
January 14, 2015
in Animals, Biology, News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

The New Zealand tuatara (Sphenodon) is one of those unique animals that warrants revision for biology textbooks. The  lizard-like reptile that is the only survivor of a group that was globally widespread at the time of the dinosaurs uses its highly specialised jaws  to slice its food like a “steak knife”. Typically, chewing is associated with high metabolism in animals, but in this instance this is far from being the case.

Chewing: not just for mammals

tuatara chewing reptile
Credit: Chester Zoo

The tuatara lives on only 35 islands scattered around the coast of New Zealand and was recently reintroduced to the mainland. Its diet consists of beetles, spiders, crickets, small lizards and, occasionally, sea birds.

[DON’T MISS] The amazing tuatara

ADVERTISEMENT

Using a computer model, researchers at University of Hull proved the complex moving structures of the reptile’s jaw as it chews is prey. This allowed them to image the pattern in 3D and from all angles with unprecedented detail. The model revealed that when the tuatara chews, the lower jaw closes between two rows of upper teeth. Once closed, the lower jaw slides forward a few millimetres to cut food between sharp edges on the teeth, sawing food apart.

Sorry to interrupt, but you should really...

...Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

“Some reptiles such as snakes are able to swallow their food whole but many others use repeated bites to break food down. The tuatara also slices up its food, much like a steak knife.”

“Because mammals show the most sophisticated form of chewing, chewing has been linked to high metabolism. However, the tuatara chews food in a relatively complex way but its metabolism is no higher than that of other reptiles with simpler oral food processing abilities. Therefore the relationship between extensive food processing and high metabolism has perhaps been overstated,” said Lead author Dr Marc Jones, UCL Cell and Developmental Biology. 

The tuatara provides an example in which specialisation of the feeding mechanism appears to allow a broader diet.

“The slicing jaws of the tuatara allow it to eat a wide range of prey including beetles, spiders, crickets, and small lizards. There are also several grizzly reports of sea birds being found decapitated following predation by tuatara,” Dr. Jones said.

“Although the tuatara-like chewing mechanism is rare today, fossils from Europe and Mexico show us that during the time of the dinosaurs (about 160 million years ago) some fossil relatives of the tuatara used a similar system and it was much more widespread,” he added.

The iconic New Zealand reptile was described in a paper published in The Anatomical Record.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tags: new zealandtuatara
ShareTweetShare
Dragos Mitrica

Dragos Mitrica

Dragos has been working in geology for six years, and loving every minute of it. Now, his more recent focus is on paleoclimate and climatic evolution, though in his spare time, he also dedicates a lot of time to chaos theory and complex systems.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.