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The terms reptile and amphibian were largely interchangeable, reptile (from Latin repere, 'to creep') being preferred by the French. [9] J.N. Laurenti was the first to formally use the term Reptilia for an expanded selection of reptiles and amphibians basically similar to that of Linnaeus. [10]
Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν herpetón, meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids, turtles, terrapins, tortoises, crocodilians, and tuataras).
The Reptiles Portal. Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with usually an ectothermic ('cold-blooded') metabolism and amniotic development. Living reptiles comprise four orders: Testudines ( turtles ), Crocodilia ( crocodilians ), Squamata ( lizards and snakes ), and Rhynchocephalia (the tuatara ).
Snakes are elongated, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (/ sɜːrˈpɛntiːz /). [ 2 ] Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads ...
A fossil of Casineria, which may have been the earliest amniote. Reptiles arose about 320 million years ago [ 1 ] during the Carboniferous period. Reptiles, in the traditional sense of the term, are defined as animals that have scales or scutes, lay land-based hard-shelled eggs, and possess ectothermic metabolisms.
Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, [ 1 ] ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The grouping is paraphyletic as some lizards are more closely related to snakes than they are to other ...
Tortoises (/ ˈtɔːrtəs.ɪz / TOR-təs-iz) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and ...
Like other reptiles, geckos are ectothermic, [15] producing very little metabolic heat. Essentially, a gecko's body temperature is dependent on its environment. Also, to accomplish their main functions; such as locomotion, feeding, reproduction, etc., geckos must have a relatively elevated temperature.