Tuatara: Living Fossil

Tuatara: Living Fossil

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

January 29, 2026 · 8 min · Episode 142

About this episode

The episode explores whether the tuatara can be considered a living fossil.

Summary: The term “living fossil” is a bit controversial but does it fit the tuatara? Join Kiersten to find out. For my hearing impaired followers, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean Show Notes: “New study shows modern tuatara are little changed from 190 million year old ancestors.” Harvard University Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, March 2022. https://www.oeb.harvard.edu/news Music written and performed by Katherine Camp Transcript (Piano music plays) Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife. (Piano music stops) 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. This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it. The sixth thing I like about the tuatara is how long they have lived. Just like another animal we have talked about, the coelacanth, the tuatara appears in the…

People in this episode

Host: Kiersten Gibizov

Topics covered

  • tuatara
  • living fossil
  • wildlife
  • evolution
  • Jurassic period

Keywords

  • tuatara
  • living fossil
  • wildlife podcast
  • evolution
  • Jurassic period

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard University Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

More episodes of Ten Things I Like About... Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Ten Things I Like About... Podcast podcast page.