Reptiles

• A cold-blooded animal that breathes air and usually has the skin covered with scales or bony plates.
• Today, reptiles live in a wide range of habitats. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica.

Some examples are:

Reptiles	Basic Information
Snakes	1. Snakes are elongated, legless, carnivorous reptiles. 2. They are covered in overlapping scales. 3. More than 20 familiesare currently recognized, comprising about 520 genera and about 3,600 species. 4. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads with their highly mobile jaws. 5. Their length vary from 10.4 cm to 6.95 m.
Turtles	1. These arecharacterized by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribsand acting as a shield. 2. Of the 356 known speciesalive today, some are highly endangered. 3. Because of their high metabolic rate, leatherback sea turtles have a body temperature that is noticeably higher than that of the surrounding water. 4. The study of turtles is called cheloniology, after the Greek word for turtle. 5. Turtles are one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than snakes or crocodilians.
Lizards	1. Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 6,000 species. 2. These are found everywhere except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. 3. Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion. Others are legless, and have long snake-like bodies. 4. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3 meter long Komodo dragon. 5. Lizards are mainly carnivorous, often being sit-and-wait predators; many smaller species eat insects, while the Komodo eats mammals as big as water buffalo.
Chameleon	1. There are 202 species described as of June 2015. 2. These species come in a range of colors, and many species have the ability to change color. 3. Chameleons’ eyes are independently mobile, but in aiming at a prey item, they focus forward in coordination. 4. Chameleons are adapted for climbing and visual hunting. 5. They live in warm habitats that range from rain forest to desert conditions.
Crocodile	1. Crocodiles having narrower and longer heads. 2. Another obvious trait is that the upper and lower jaws of the crocodiles are the same width. 3. Crocodiles have more webbing on the toes of the hind feet and can better tolerate saltwater. 4. They have higher levels of aggression. 5. Many species are at the risk of extinction, some being classified as critically endangered.

Other reptiles are: skink, alligator, gekkota etc…

Some facts:

• Nearly all reptiles lay shelled eggs.
• Reptiles breathe air.
• Reptiles are covered in scales or have a bony external plate such as a shell.
• Nearly all reptiles are cold blooded.
• The first reptiles are believed to have evolved around 320 million years ago.
• The size of reptile’s brains relative to their body is much smaller than that of mammals.
• Reptiles use a variety of methods to defend themselves from dangerous situations, such as avoidance, camouflage, hissing and biting.
• Reptiles are among the longest-lived species on the planet. For example, large tortoises such as the Aldabra tortoise can live for more than 150 years.