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Henry, a tuatara with prehistoric origins, had previously shown no interest in females during nearly 40 years in captivity, say keepers.

But his 80-year-old partner, Mildred, laid 12 eggs in mid-July, 11 of which are due to hatch in about six months.

Henry's keepers have his put newfound vigour down to a recent operation to remove a tumour from his bottom.

Henry arrived at Southland Museum in the South Island city of Invercargill in 1970 and, his keepers say, soon became overweight and idle.

'Raging hormones'

Museum curator Lindsay Hazley told AFP news agency: "He bit the tail off his previous female companion twice. But since the operation his hormones have been raging."

It is not known whether Henry had ever mated in the wild.

Tuatara, which are only found in New Zealand, are sometimes referred to as "living fossils".

They are the only surviving members of a family of species which walked the Earth with the dinosaurs more than 200m years ago.

Mr Hazley said he was confident Henry would continue to make the most of his new lease of life and was already showing interest in the other two females in his enclosure, Lucy and Juliet.

"He's definitely up for it, he's become a real Jack the Lad since he lost his virginity," he said.

But he warned it was probably too early to start further prenatal celebrations.

"With these guys, foreplay might take years," he said. "One has to be patient."

(BBC)

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