Characteristies of reptiles ----Gianna J304

Gianna Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:13 am

Reptiles
Reptiles are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have scaly bodies as opposed to hair or feathers; they represent an intermediate position in evolutionary development between amphibians and warm-blooded vertebrates, the birds and mammals. They are tetrapods and amniotes whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane, and members of the class Sauropsida inhabiting every continent with the exception of Antarctica.

Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Class- Sauropsida
Subclasses- Anapsida
Diapsida
Orders- Crocodilia
Sphenodontia
Squamata
Testudines
- Crocodilia (crocodiles, gharials, caimans and alligators): 23 species
- Sphenodontia (tuataras from New Zealand): 2 species
- Squamata (lizards, snakes and amphisbaenids ("worm-lizards"): approximately 7,900 species
- Testudines (turtles and tortoises): approximately 300 species

Reptiles (meaning "to creep") are a group of animals that have scales (or modified scales), breathe air, and usually lay eggs. The term reptile is loosely defined in everyday English to mean scaly, cold-blooded, egg-laying animals. In cladistics (a way of classifying life forms), the reptiles are more strictly defined and include the descendants of the most recent common ancestor of the turtles, lepidosaurs (lizards, snakes, tuataras), and archosaurs (crocodilians, dinosaurs, and birds). The maintenance of body temperature (cold- vs. warm-blooded) is not a factor in this classification, but skull and egg structure are.
-African Rock Python
-Alligator
-Anaconda
-Angonoka
-Common Snapping Turtle

Reference

1. www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/reptiles/printouts.shtml
2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptiles:bounce: