I mean I realize that dinosaurs supposedly were more closely related to modern birds than reptiles, but if the Tuatara reproduces like a bird, dates back to the Triassic period and is biologically unique for all sorts of reasons, can’t we just say it’s the last extant dinosaur species, for the hell of it? I mean it’s tiny and completely lame by dinosaur standards, but maybe that would make a good story — only the David Eckstein of dinosaurs survived.

Also, Tuatara is the name of one of the many projects the saxophonist Skerik, one of my favorite musicians.