Tū-te-wehiwehi (also Tū-te-wanawana) is the father of all

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

s in

Māori mythology Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori people, Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the ...

Family

He is a son of Punga and brother of

Ikatere In Māori and Polynesian mythology, Ikatere, also spelled Ika-tere, ('fast fish') is a fish god, the father of all sea creatures, including mermaids. He is a son of Punga, and a grandson of Tangaroa, and his brother is Tū-te-wehiwehi (Grey ...

.Ika-tere
/ref> Punga's father was

Tangaroa Tangaroa (Māori; Takaroa in the South Island dialect; cognate with Tagaloa in Sāmoan) is the great atua of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that live within them, especially fish, in Māori mythology. As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai, he exercis ...

atua Atua are the gods and spirits of the Polynesian people such as the Māori or the Hawaiians (see also ). The literal meaning of the Polynesian word is "power" or "strength" and so the concept is similar to that of '' mana''. Many of the atua ...

of the sea. When

Tāwhirimātea In Māori mythology, Tāwhirimātea (or Tāwhiri) is the god of weather, including thunder and lightning, wind, clouds and storms. He is a son of Rangi and Papa, Papatūānuku (Earth goddess, earth mother) and Rangi and Papa, Ranginui (sky father ...

made war against his brothers for separating

Rangi and Papa In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world and the Māori people (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Ran ...

, Ikatere and Tū-te-wehiwehi had to flee, and Ikatere fled to the sea and became an ancestor of fishes, while Tū-te-wehiwehi took refuge in the forest and fathered lizards. Before Tū-te-wehiwehi and Ikatere fled, they disputed together as to what they should do to escape from the storms. One of Tu-te-wanwana's offspring was Uenuku, a lesser reptile atua. His mother was Mairangi, who was the daughter of Kauika, son of Wareware, son of Murirangawhenua and

Mahuika Mahuika is a Māori fire deity and consort of the god Auahitūroa. Myths In some versions, she is the younger sister of Hine-nui-te-pō, goddess of death. It was from her that Māui (in some versions he is her grandson) obtained the secre ...

. This Uenuku should not be confused with

Uenuku Uenuku (or Uenuku-Kōpako, also given to some who are named after him) is an atua of rainbows and a prominent ancestor in Māori tradition. Māori believed that the rainbow's appearance represented an omen, and one kind of yearly offering made ...

, a more prominent atua.

References

Māori gods Animal gods {{deity-stub