Reptiles. The very word can send shivers up your spine. But many people don't realize that reptiles don't have to be scary. You don't often see people running away from a box turtle or a day gecko, right?
Most birds aren't very scary either. Technically, birds are reptiles. Turtles, lizards, crocodiles, snakes and birds all descended from the same ancestors. In fact, many of the dinosaurs that we so readily associate with lizards and crocodiles are more closely related to birds.
Leaving Our Feathered Friends Behind
Because evolution has created such a large biological and behavioral gap between birds and other reptiles, most people exclude birds from discussions about reptiles. Given that fact (and because I'm not an ornithologist), I'll exclude birds, too. So when I use the term "reptile", I mean all reptiles except for birds.
Cold Crocs and Hot Horned Lizards
Reptiles (and amphibians, too, for that matter) are ectotherms, or cold-blooded. This means that they use the heat from their surroundings to regulate their body temperature. Through complex biological processes, humans and other warm-blooded animals can maintain metabolic equilibrium (homeostasis) with no conscious effort.
For example, when a human's internal temperature rises significantly, the person starts to sweat to cool off. When body temperature drops, a human shivers to produce heat. By contrast, reptiles must move in and out of the sun and the shade to warm or cool their bodies.
Ectothermy has both advantages and disadvantages. If too cold, a reptile's body functions slow down dramatically. Reptiles become too sluggish to hunt effectively, and cannot properly digest their food. This is why reptiles go into hibernation during cold months of the year. But being too hot can be just as bad. Reptiles can easily overheat and become dehydrated.
The advantage of being an ectotherm is through self regulation; reptiles are extremely efficient creatures. Research has shown that in one day, a reptile uses about 3 percent of the energy that a similarly-sized mammal would.
Learning the Latin
Now it's time to get technical. Using the simple phrase "Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach", we can talk about the scientific classification of reptiles.
Let's start with K for Kingdom. All animals fall under the kingdom Animalia (hence animal kingdom). Next is P, for Phylum. There is no solid definition for phylum, but the general idea is that animals are placed in a particular phylum based on general body plan and developmental process. Reptiles fall under the phylum Chordata.
C is for Class. Reptiles, for pretty obvious reasons, are in the class Reptilia. So we now come to O, which is for Order. The class Reptilia consists of four orders: Testudinea (turtles), Crocodylia (crocodilians), Rhynchocephalia/Sphenodontida (tuatara), and Squamata (snakes and lizards). Squamates will be the focus of my future entries.
Next is F, for Family. Some examples of families of order Squamata are Gekkonidae (geckos), Iguanidae (iguanas), Boidae (boas), and Pythonidae (pythons). G is for Genus. Also called the generic name, genus separates each family into general types. Family Gekkonidae consists of genera for web-toed geckos, leaf-toed geckos, day geckos, etc.
And last but not least, S is for Species. Species further categorizes genus. Examples of species are leopard gecko, bearded dragon, Burmese python, etc.
Final Words
That concludes this brief introduction to reptiles. For any clarification of terms, please click on the links provided. And please feel free to ask me any questions, too! I'll do my best to answer them.
My next entry will be the start of my snake series.
See you all next week!
Other Blog Entries
New Animal Attractions
Snakes: They're All Around
Snakes: A Family Affair (Part 1)
Snakes: A Family Affair (Part 2)
Snakes: Clever And Deadly Behaviors
Snakes: Do The Locomotion (Part 1)
Snakes: Do The Locomotion (Part 2)
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