tuatara<-readLines("Tuatara.txt")
# tuatara
names<-NULL
for (i in 1:length(tuatara)) names<-c(names,unlist(strsplit(tuatara[i]," "))[1])
names
### alternative using lapply
names<-unlist(lapply(strsplit(tuatara,split=" "), "[", 1))
names
###

tuatara[6]<-gsub("\\([^][]*)","?", tuatara[6])
tuatara[6]
### alternative code avoiding { function
tuatara[6]<-gsub("*\\(.*?\\)","?", tuatara[6])
tuatara[6]