REPTILES

Kingdom - ANIMALIA
Phylum - CHORDATA
Subphylum - VERTEBRATA
Class - REPTILIA
Orders - RHYNCHOCEPHALIA
CHELONIA
CROCODILIA
SQUAMATA

CHARACTERISTICS:

1. Thick waterproof skin of ________________ with ________________
2. Well-developed ________________
3. Strong ________________ (if present)
4. ________________ on toes (if present)
5. 3-chambered or 4-chambered heart
6. ________________blooded (Ectothermic)
7. ________________ fertilization
8. ________________ egg

Structure of the Amniote Egg:

________________ - porous, usually leathery
________________ - membrane sac that surrounds the embryo and is filled with fluid
________________ sac - contains stored food (yolk)
________________ - membrane sac that stores wastes
________________ - membrane sac that lines the shell and exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide.

ORDER - ________________

Only one surviving member, the ________________, Sphenodon punctatus, which lives in New Zealand. Approx. 2 feet long, resembles a lizard.

________________ Eye - a third eye on top of its head, has no muscles, not used for vision.

ORDER - ________________
Turtles - usually ________________
Tortoises - usually ________________
________________ Tortoise - grows to 5 ft, 560 lb., may live 150 yrs.

Shell most characteristic part.

________________ - dorsal shell
________________ - ventral shell
________________ - plates in the shell

Tortoises have high domed shells for protection.
Turtles have flat streamlined shells for swimming.
They have no teeth but use their beak to crush plants and animals (________________).

ORDER - ________________

Includes Alligators, Crocodiles, ________________, ________________.
Main difference is shape of head & snout.
Crocodile has triangular head with a more ________________ snout.
Alligators have a broad head with a ________________ snout.
Crocodilians have their eyes and nostrils on top of their head and a special valve that prevents water from entering the breathing passages. Crocodiles are the heaviest reptiles, some reaching 1,100 pounds, and may reach 25 - 30 feet long.

ORDER - ________________ - Lizards and snakes.

Lizards: Generally distinguished from snakes by having legs. However, some are legless.

________________ - tree dwelling lizards that can change color.
________________ - an American lizard that can change color.
________________ - largest of all lizards, grows to be 10 ft long and 300 lbs.
________________ - common local lizard; has bluish black body with yellow stripes.
________________ - large tropical lizards

Poisonous lizards:

________________ - in southwestern U.S.
________________ - in Mexico

Snakes:
Long, legless reptiles that have a large number of ________________ and a missing or reduced ________________.

Snakes are covered in scales which they molt periodically.
Ventral scales are called ________________.
Valuable because of their role in reducing ________________ populations.

Reproduction:

Most snakes are ________________ (egg layers).
Others are ________________, live bearers. They hatch their eggs inside their bodies but do not care for their young after birth.

Nervous System:

________________ organs - pits that are lined with nerve endings for smell. The tongue carries odor particles to it.
Eyes and ears are poorly developed.
No eyelids.

Movement:
1. ________________ undulatory - wiggles from side to side
2. ________________ - a sideways motion of desert snakes
3. Straight - slow, straight movement

Feeding:

All snakes are ________________.
All snakes swallow their food whole.
They can swallow objects ________________ times larger than their heads because their jaws can become unhinged. Digestion may take several days.

FEEDING:

• Some swallow ________________.
• Some ________________ before swallowing. (Constrictors include boas, pythons, king snakes, rat snakes and others)
• Some ________________ before swallowing.

Venomous Snakes:

________________ - affect blood
________________ - affect nerves
Some snake venoms contain both.

Our venomous snakes usually have ________________ bodies than non-venomous snakes and a ________________-shaped head.

________________ vipers - venomous snakes that contain a heat-sensitive pit between the eye and nostril, capable of detecting 0.005 degrees F. Pit vipers include the rattlesnakes, water moccasin, and copperhead.

Venomous snakes in U.S.:

1. ________________ - 31 species (3 in Georgia)
2. ________________
3. ________________ (cottonmouth)
4. ________________

Other well-known venomous snakes in the world include the Cobras, Sea Snakes, and Mambas.