Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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Reptile Embraces Fatherhood At Age 111

'Henry The Tuatara' Has Lived At Museum Since 1970s

POSTED: 9:04 am PDT August 7, 2008
UPDATED: 9:47 am PDT August 7, 2008

One of the last living dinosaur descendants will become a father for the first time at the age of 111.

Officials said Henry the Tuatara and his mate Mildred produced 12 eggs in mid-July after mating earlier this year at the Southland Museum in New Zealand.

Henry has lived at the museum since 1970 and had shown no interest in sex until he recently had a cancerous growth removed from his genitals. He is now enjoying the company of three females and might breed again next March.

Zoologists said Tuatara are the lizard-like descendants of a reptile species that roamed the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago.