Class: Reptilia

What is a Reptile? 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

Testudines – Turtles and Tortoises Hard Shell (usually) Carapace and plastron Oviparous Internal fertilization Often times lacking teeth

Alligator Snapping Turtle Macrochelys temminckii

River Cooter Hieroglyphic River Cooter Pseudemys concinna

Red Eared Slider Red Eared Slider Trachemys scripta

Squamata – Snakes and Lizards Largest order of reptiles (more than 6000 species) Loosely hinged jaw Skin is shed May be limbless Found all over the world!

Snakes 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 and Venom (INDIANA) 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 Venomous Non-Venomous

Eastern Hognosed Snake Heterodon platirhinos

Cotton Mouth Water Moccasin Agkistrodon piscivorous

Queen Snake Queen Snake Regina septemvittata

Lizards 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.

Eastern Fence Lizard Eastern fence lizard Sceloporus undulatus

5 Lined Skink Five lined skink Eumeces fasciatus

Crocodilia Alligators, Crocodiles, Gharials, and Caiman Closest relation to birds “Belly walk” or more upright run for a period of time

Alligator Vs Crocodile

Alligator vs. Crocodile Rounded U-shaped snout Hidden teeth; except upper jaw teeth Pointy V-shaped snout Visible teeth that interlock Alligator Crocodile