Class: Reptilia

A cold-blooded vertebrate of a class that includes snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles, and tortoises. They are distinguished by having a dry scaly skin, and typically laying soft-shelled eggs on land

What is a Reptile?

Hard Shell (usually) Carapace and

plastron Oviparous Internal

fertilization Often times lacking

teeth

Testudines – Turtles and Tortoises

Alligator Snapping Turtle

Macrochelys temminckii

Alligator Snapping Turtle

Hieroglyphic River Cooter

Pseudemys concinna

River Cooter

Red Eared Slider Trachemys scripta

Red Eared Slider

Largest order of reptiles (more than 6000 species)

Loosely hinged jaw Skin is shed May be limbless Found all over the world!

Squamata – Snakes and Lizards

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears

Paired organs are usually found one in front of the other

One functional lung

Snakes

Smell the air with their forked tongue

Lack chewing teeth and must swallow prey whole

May or may not be venomous

How can we tell?!

Snakes

Snakes and Venom (INDIANA)

Venomous Non-Venomous

4 nostrils (2 are pits)

“Fat” broad bodied

Broad “spade shaped” heads (triangle)

Slited pupils

2 nostrils

Head is about the same width as the body

Round pupils

Eastern Hognosed Snake

Heterodon platirhinos

Eastern Hognosed Snake

Water Moccasin Agkistrodon

piscivorous

Cotton Mouth

Queen Snake Regina

septemvittata

Queen Snake

Lizards typically have feet and external ears, while snakes lack both of these characteristics. However, because they are defined negatively as excluding snakes, lizards have no unique distinguishing characteristic as a group.

Lizards

Can have well developed color vision

Use a combination of body colorations, body positions and pheromones to communicate.

Lizards

Eastern fence lizard

Sceloporus undulatus

Eastern Fence Lizard

Five lined skink Eumeces

fasciatus

5 Lined Skink

Alligators, Crocodiles, Gharials, and Caiman

Closest relation to birds

“Belly walk” or more upright run for a period of time

Crocodilia

Alligator Vs Crocodile

Alligator vs. Crocodile

Alligator Crocodile

Rounded U-shaped snout

Hidden teeth; except upper jaw teeth

Pointy V-shaped snout

Visible teeth that interlock