Reptiles

• Snakes • Lizards• Alligators• Crocodiles• Turtles

Most reptiles alive today come in the form of….

• 1) Lizards

• 2) Snakes

Characteristics of Lizards and Snakes

• Both have skin covered in scales

• As they grow, they shed their skin and scales

Lizards have several characteristics that make them different from snakes:

• Lizards have: – 4 legs– Claws on the toes– Long tails– Ears on the outside (external ears)– Movable eyelids – 2 lungs

Lizards

Snakes are different from lizards in that snakes have:

-- No legs– No external ears (no ears on the outside)– No eyelids– 1 lung

How do snakes eat?• All snakes are carnivores– Most feed on mice, but some can feed on larger

animals – Snake’s jawbones can spread wide apart– The snake’s skull can move to let the snake

swallow an animal larger than itself

Snakes capture their prey in different ways

1) some snakes have long, curved front teeth for hooking slippery prey

2) rattlesnakes and copperheads have venom glands attached to hollow teeth called fangs(When snakes bite their prey, venom (poison) flows down through the fangs and enters the prey’s body, killing it)

How Lizards eat

• 1) some are HERBIVORES that eat leaves

• 2) most are CARNIVORES that capture their prey by jumping at it

– Large lizards eat frogs and birds– Small lizards eat insects

Movement

• Lizards move by walking and running

• Snakes slither across the ground– They slither by contracting (or shortening muscles

on the right and left sides )

Basilisk Lizard: “The Jesus-Christ Lizard” -can run on water –can splash their feet hard against the water, creating an air pocket

that keeps them from sinking

What is an Iguana?

• Type of herbivorous lizard that lives in Mexico, Central America, and Polynesian Islands

• Can range from 4 to 6 feet• Has excellent vision and can see shapes from

long distances

Iguanas: have a dorsal spine and a jowl

Chameleons

• Distinctive type of carnivorous lizards that comes in a range of bright colors

• Have long tongues that they can rapidly extend from their mouths to eat insects

• Can change colors based on their body temperature and emotional status

• The warmer or angrier a chameleon is, the brighter its color becomes

Chameleons

Gecko• Lizard• Unique in their

vocalizations –use chirping sounds in interactions

• Have the greatest number of species of lizards (over 1,500)

• Can lose their tail in defense –autotomy -if a predator catches them by the tail, they can still run away and regenerate (or regrow the tail later)