tuatara
1. (noun) tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus - an endemic reptile with baggy skin and spines down the back. Because of their spiritual association with the atua Whiro, whose realm was of things evil, tuatara and geckos were feared.
Te ingoa o taua waka, ko 'Mangarara'; ngā rangatira o runga, ko Wheketoro, ko te Waiopotango, ko Rauarikiao, ko Tarawhata, me ētahi atu. Nā tēnei waka i mau mai te tuatara, te teretere, te kumukumu, te moko pārae, me te moko kākāriki, (he mea āhua rite katoa ki te tuatara) (TWMNT 22/8/1876:201). / The name of the canoe was 'Mangarara', and the chiefs who came on it were Wheketoro, Waiopotango, Rauarikiao, Tarawhata, and a number of others. This canoe brought the tuatara, the brown gecko, the kumukumu, the moko pārae, and the green gecko, (all reptiles like the tuatara).
