View Te Ara in

Story: Ngārara – reptiles

Tuatara hatching

Tuatara hatching

This tuatara is hatching out of an egg. In one tradition, reptiles originated from Peketua. He made an egg out of clay and asked Tāne, the god of the forest, to give it life.

About this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Richard Sharell Collection
Reference: PAColl-5902-002

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page:

Bradford Haami. 'Ngārara – reptiles', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 1-Mar-09
URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ngarara-reptiles/1/3