The truth is, nobody is really sure why none of non-avian dinosaurs seem to have survived past the end of the Cretaceous. The larger ones, both herbivores and carnivores, certainly needed a lot of food to survive, which was likely very scarce following the K-T event, and popular theories suggest that that smaller dinosaurs were warm blooded, and therefore could not go long periods of time without food, whereas the tuatara is cold blooded and needs much less food than a similarly sized warm blooded animal might. However, the survival of other warm blooded animals such as mammals and possibly also flightless birds (which would have been extremely similar to maniraptoran dinosaurs) calls such sweeping theories into question. Certainly, the survival of the tuatara might be more due to luck than anything else, as their once prolific family, the Sphenodontids, suffered greatly since their heyday in the early Mesozoic (around 200 million years ago), when many relatives of the tuatara existed in a variety of environments, some even being aquatic (the pleurosaurs) and the two modern species of tuatara are all that's left of their lineage. However, the tuatara do have a certain degree of adaptation to cold weather, which might have enabled their ancestors to survive the hypothetical "nuclear winter" which followed the impact event which is implicated in the K-T extinctions, assuming it was present in their ancestors at that time, and isn't a more recent evolutionary adaptation.

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Because they have survived almost unchanged for 150 million years.

There are only two species of tuatara: The Northern tuatara (Sphenodon guntheri) and the Brothers Island tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus).

Tarantulas have been on Earth for at least tens of thousands of years, probably much longer. Their ancestor species have been on Earth since before the dinosaurs, hundreds of millions of years ago.

a sea turtle has four legs but shaped like flippers which helps them to speed through the ocean

Yes; In Brazil villagers often keep tame tapirs. But they are large, and although usually docile when accustomed to people from a young age can have aggressive outbursts. Also they are large and strong animals. Some countries may have laws against the keeping of wild animals like this as pets. But it is certainly not impossible.

Tuatara are not lizards. They are lizard-like reptiles, endemic to New Zealand, but they are not reptiles.

Tuatara are relatively defenceless, which is why they have become extinct on the mainland. They hide by day and are active at night, and this is their main means of protection.

The tuatara is a reptile confined to a few islands of the shores of New Zealand. it resembles most lizards, and is one of the remnants of the dinosaur age. Tuataras eat spiders, small birds and insects
The Tuatara is a reptile that has lived longer than the dinosaurs.

The tuatara, a highly endangered lizard of New Zealand, is a specialist.

A specialist is a species which survives on a fairly limited diet or is restricted to a particular locality. The tuatara is a species found in only a few offshore islands of the New Zealand, and it is particularly vulnerable to habitat loss. This makes it a specialist.

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Tuatara (a New Zealand lizard) generally live to about 60 years old, though they can live to 100. In captivity a tuatara might live for 200 years according to experts.

To get the average age, add up all the ages of all tuataras and then divide by the number of animals. The answer is probably about 40 years old.

The Tutara belongs to a group of reptiles called lepidosaurs along with lizards and snakes. Dinosaurs are on a different evolutionary branch called archosaurs, which they share with crocodiles. Research in the past thirty years or so has shown that dinosaurs actually had more in common with birds, their direct descendants, than with modern reptiles.

The tuatara is a small to medium sized lizard-like reptile, thou not actually a lizard, An adult tuatara grows up to about 24 cm in length. Note that this is quite different from the lengths quoted on some websites such as the San Diego Zoo website, which gives inaccurate information.

No. Iguanas and tuatara are quite different species. Whilst both iguanas and tuatara are reptiles, the iguana is a type of lizard, whereas the tuatara is not classified as a lizard.

The average lifespan is about 60 years, but they can live to be over 100 years old.

No. The tuatara, a lizard-like reptile endemic to New Zealand, does not have the ability to produce any venom.

No. Tuataras are in the lepidosaur branch of reptiles, which they share with lizards and snakes. Dinosaurs are on the archosaur branch, which they share with crocodilians. Birds are the only living dinosaurs today.

Diet: Tuataras are carnivores (meat eaters). They eat insects (like the weta (a cricket), moths and beetles), reptiles (like lizards), worms, snails, eggs, baby birds and even other Tuataras. Predators: Tuataras are eaten by rodents, pigs, and wild cats.

Generally through its nostrils. Tuataras have perfectly normal lungs.

Tuatara are only found in their native habitat on nearshore islands of New Zealand. They are also kept in protective captivity on the mainland.

For a map of where tuatara are found, see the related link.

The main reason why tuatara are endangered is the threat caused by introduced predators. Once found throughout the mainland, the tuatara is now found in the wild only on offshore islands. The kiore (Polynesian rat) is responsible for the decreasing tuatara population, as are the two species of rats introduced by Europeans, while cats, dogs, stoats and ferrets have also contributed to the tuatara's decline.

On the mainland, deforestation has resulted in habitat loss, which has meant less food and safe shelter for the tuatara.

The tuatara's own breeding cycle and slow growth rate makes this reptile one of its own worst enemies. Tuatara only breed every second year and they are long-lived, meant they do not begin reproducing until they are 15-18 years old. They cannot reproduce quickly enough to compensate for their numbers being reduced by predators.