Evidence of predation on a young tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus, by kiore, Rattus exulans, on Lady Alice Island

Abstract

Abstract Wounds on a juvenile tuatara discovered dead on Lady Alice Island, Chickens group, Hauraki Gulf, appear to have been inflicted by kiore. Flesh was stripped from the right abdominal wall of the tuatara exposing its ribs and liver, and part of its tail and eight digits were missing.