111-Year-Old Tuatara Becomes Father

Henry is a tuatara (lizard-like reptile native to New Zealand) who was living grumpily at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in Invercargill until vets removed a cancerous tumor on his genitals, after which he became interested in the female tuataras, despite his advanced age of 111.

Henry and Mildred were seen mating last March, and Mildred laid some eggs. After an incubation of 223 days, 11 baby tuataras hatched).  Tuataras are rare, and most live in predator-free sanctuaries, and are descended from a line of reptiles that hung out with dinosaurs 225 million years ago.