Why does new zealand have native reptiles like lizards and geckos but no native snakes?

Question

Why does new zealand have native reptiles like lizards and geckos but no native snakes?

In: Biology

Answer 1

When New Zealand became an island in the late cretaceous, it meant that the only terrestrial animals living there were the ones descended from the animals living at the time of the separation (or which could swim or fly from the mainland, e.g. the probably-flighted ancestors of the kiwi).

There just didn’t happen to be any snakes living in New Zealand at that time, since snakes had only just recently evolved. For the same reason, there are no mammals endemic to New Zealand except for bats (which could fly there) and marine mammals (which could swim); all others living there now were introduced by humans.