Tuatara

Tuatara

From Ten Things I Like About... Podcast by Kiersten Gibizov

December 10, 2025 · 7 min · Episode 137

About this episode

Kiersten explores the fascinating tuatara, a misunderstood creature from ancient times.

Summary: Tua-what? Join Kiersten to find out what the tuatara is. For my hearing impaired followers, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean Show Notes: “Sphenodon punctatus (Tuatara)” Animal Diversity Web: https://www.animaldiversity.org Music written and performed by Katherine Camp Transcript (Piano music plays) Kiersten - Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… This is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. My name is Kiersten and I have a Master’s Degree in Animal Behavior and did my thesis on the breeding behavior of the Tri-colored bat. I was a zookeeper for many years and have worked with all sorts of animals from Aba Aba fish to tigers to ravens to domesticated dogs and so many more in between. Many of those years were spent in education programs and the most important lesson I learned was that the more information someone has about a particular animal the less they fear them. The less they fear them the more they crave information about them and before you know it you’ve become an advocate for that misunderstood animal. This…

People in this episode

Host: Kiersten Gibizov

Topics covered

  • tuatara
  • animal behavior
  • misunderstood creatures
  • nature education
  • ancient animals

Keywords

  • tuatara
  • Sphenodon punctatus
  • animal behavior
  • zookeeper
  • nature podcast

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Animal Diversity Web

Books & works: Ten Things I Like About...

Places: New Zealand

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