Rare Reptile Becomes Dad at Age 111

[Miss Mia]

Rare Reptile Becomes Dad at Age 111



WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Jan. 26) - A captive reptile in New Zealand has unexpectedly become a father at the ripe old age of 111 after receiving treatment for a cancer that made him hostile toward prospective mates.

The centenarian tuatara, named Henry, was thought well past the mating game until he was caught canoodling with a female named Mildred last March — a consummation that resulted in 11 babies being hatched on Monday.

Tuatara are indigenous New Zealand creatures that resemble lizards but descend from a distinct lineage of reptile that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.

An endangered species, the hatchlings born at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery will provide a badly needed boost to the tuatara's genetic diversity, said the gallery's tuatara curator, Lindsay Hazley.

Henry was at least 70 years old when he arrived at the museum, "a grumpy old man" who attacked other reptiles, including females, until a cancerous tumor was removed from his genitals in 2002, said Hazley.

"I went off the idea he was good for breeding," Hazley told The Associated Press, but once the tumor was removed, "he was no longer aggressive."

-snip-

[Flame]

I'd say a tumor on the genitals would make any male grumpy!

[Eupher]

Reminds me a little of the actor Tony Randall, who fathered his first child at age 77 and his second child a year later.

I guess that meant he wasn't up to playing touch football with the kids.

Of course, he croaked at age 84.

I wonder how much time Henry has left, especially now with the cancerous tumor no longing gracing his 'nads.