Invercargill

A strange confluence of Arctic-maritime climate and the rural isolation of a century long past has created an interesting city.  With the weather being better farther north, we decided to spend a day in Invercargill, and wait till our next time through to enjoy more of the city on foot.  Rain flying sideways tends to put a damper on the outdoor fun.

I really appreciate when these older cities make the effort to preserve their older artistic structures and public places.




Our first major stop was the Southland Museum and Art Gallery.  An eclectic collection of history, science, biology, and archeology, this museum's main draw was the Tuatarium.  Here they have a captive breeding program for the tuatara.  

Tuatara are a living fossil in many ways.  They are the only remaining  member of the Rhynchocephalian reptile family.  The earliest fossil records show this family evolving over 250 million years ago.  Endemic to NZ and several of its smaller islands, these strange not-lizards are found nowhere else.  NZ has no other native reptiles.




Some interesting facts about tuatara.  They are carnivorous, eating just about anything that moves, and will fit in their mouth.  They are survivors; they will remain active with body temperatures below 45F, when most reptiles would be immobile.  Hibernating through cold spells, and only needing 1/4 of their body weight in food per year, they have long life spans.  The oldest tuatara in captivity is over 100 years old.  Which is good, because they take 25-30 years to reach full size!


They shed their skin every year like a snake.  The fringe on their crest is actually soft, as is their skin.   Despite looking like dragon lizards, they are very different internally.  Males lack any external genitalia,  instead mating similar to birds.  Their skeletons and metabolism vary dramatically from true lizards.


Between their eyes and under their skin, they have a third eye-like organ.  It senses light and temperature, and regulates their circadian rhythm.  Males grow to 600mm long, and weight 1kg.    They have no teeth, instead they have interlocking bony edges of their jaw. 

Some other interesting displays in the museum:

Check out this dolphin skeleton, strange without all the blubber. 


Sperm Whale teeth.  Good for hunting giant squid, I guess.


Baleen whale skull.


The hand ground lenses from a lighthouse.


Moa were large flightless birds (not related to other flightless birds from Australia and Africa).  They were hunted to extinction by the Māori within a few hundred years of their arrival in NZ.  With over 12 species, they were quite diverse and widespread.  Behind Jen in this photo is the leg of the largest species.  Standing at 3 meters (9ft) tall, and weighing over 150kg, it was a monster bird.  Given they roamed NZ only a few hundred years ago, I hold out the wild (ridiculous) hope I may rediscover some in the wilderness.



Here is one of the smaller Moa species.  This one stands only 1.5 meters tall.


To make things more interesting, these Moa were hunted by giant eagles!  Now gone the way of their prey, these eagles had a wingspan of 4 meters (12ft+).  Now that is a big bird!

Here is a stuffed Kakapō.  One of the endangered flightless parrots native to NZ.  They forage and hunt in the canopy and along the forests floor.  Quite beefy for a parrot.