Reptiles Reptile Characteristics Reptiles are ectotherms with thick dry waterproof skin They have scales to help reduce water loss and protect the reptile When reptiles are cold they will lay in the sun to warm up When they are hot they will hide in the shade to cool down ID: 480582
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Slide1
Chapter 14.4
ReptilesSlide2
Reptile Characteristics
Reptiles are
ectotherms
with thick, dry, waterproof skin. They have scales to help reduce water loss and protect the reptile. When reptiles are cold they will lay in the sun to warm up. When they are hot they will hide in the shade to cool down. Turtles, crocodiles, and lizards have 4 legs and have claws to dig, climb, and run. Snakes and some lizards move without legs. Slide3
Body Systems
Reptiles breathe with lungs.
The circulatory system is more developed than with amphibians. They have a 3-chambered heart with a partial division in their main chamber to keep the mixing of oxygen rich and carbon dioxide filled blood to a minimum. This makes it so they have more oxygen to all parts of their body.
Crocodilians have a 4 chambered heart. Slide4
Amniotic Egg
Reptiles have internal fertilization.
After fertilization eggs are laid on land. These eggs have a tough, leathery shell. The shell prevents drying out.
Amniotic eggs give the embryo everything they need to develop. It has membranes to protect and cushion the embryo and to get rid of wastes. It also has a food supply, the yolk. There are tiny pores in the shell that allow oxygen and carbon dioxide to be exchanged. When the young retile hatches it looks like a mini adult.Slide5
Types of Modern Reptiles
Reptiles live everywhere except Antarctica.
They vary in shape, color, and size.Slide6
Lizards and Snakes
This group has a jaw that has a special joint that unhinges and increases the size of the mouth. This allows especially snakes to swallow prey whole.
Lizards have moveable eyelids, external ears, and legs with claws. They feed on plants, other reptiles, insects, spiders, worms, and mammals.
Snakes do not have legs. They have poor eyesight and hearing. Snakes can hear the vibrations in the ground.Snakes are meat eaters. Some can wrap around and constrict their prey, others kill their prey with venom. Most snakes have internal fertilization but lay eggs. Slide7
Turtles
Turtles have a 2 part shell made of hard, bony plates. The ribs and vertebrae are fused to make the top part of the shell. Most turtles can bring their heads and legs into their shell for protection.
They do not have teeth but have powerful jaws. They eat insects, worms, fish, and plants.
Turtles live in water and on land, tortoises live only on land. Slide8
Crocodilians
Crocodilians are crocodiles, gavials, and alligators.
They have a
lizardlike shape, and large, deep scales. Crocodilians are different from each other because the shape of their head. Crocodiles have a long, narrow head. Alligators have a broad, round snout. Gavials have a very slender snout with a bulbous growth on the end. Crocodilians care for their young. The female will guard a nest of eggs and when they hatch the male and female project the young.