Reptiles

By Brandon Snitker

and

Dan Rediske

Habitat

• Tend to be found in warmer climates.

• Can be found anywhere from the tropical rain forest, to the desert, to inside the artic circle.

Not Here

Not here either

noStill no.

Food Sources

• Snakes- Carnivorous, size of prey depends on size of snake.– Small mammals and other snakes.

• Turtles- Herbivorous, eats small plants.

• Lizards- Mostly carnivorous, commonly eat insects, and less often may eat other, smaller, lizards.

Importance to the environment

Reptiles provide an essential balance to ecosystems by being predators and also being prey to larger animals.

Importance to Humans

• Reptiles help keep the pest population down, as reptiles commonly feed on pests.

• Venom has several uses in medicine and biological research.

• The skin of some of these animals can also be made into consumer items.

Unique Characteristics

Reptiles are characterized by

• being ectothermic.

• being covered in scales.

• having clawed feet.

• having a breast bone that protects the lungs and heart.

Unique Characteristics: Snakes

• Snakes have an adapted skull that allows the mouth to accommodate for large prey.

• Snakes also have a unique method of motion (slithering), allowing them to be undetected by some predators.

Unique characteristics: Turtles

• Turtles can swim for up to five hours under water.

• Turtles have a hard, sharp beak and usually have a protective shell, although soft-shelled turtles do not.

Soft shell!

Unique Characteristics: Lizards

• Lizards store fat in their tails. • Lizards can release and

regenerate their tails. (Click to start

video->)

• Certain lizards can blend into their surroundings by measuring the amount of light and heat that hits their body.

Subgroups: Surviving Classes and Orders

Reptiles

Chelonia Crocodilia Squamata

Lizards

Sphendontia

TuartasCrocodilesTurtles

Alligators Snakes

Other Living reptiles

There were 17 original orders, only 4 remain today.The grouping of reptiles is a group that has very little or no relation to other members of the Reptile phylum.

Skeletal Support structures: Snake

Voice thread

Skeletal Support Structures: Lizard

• Lizards have well developed pectoral and pelvic girdles to allow movement.

These adaptations allow lizards to move effectively.

Skeletal Support Structure: Turtle

• Turtles and Tortoises are usually recognized by the tough shell that protects their body.

• This shell also acts as a solid support for interior structures.

Respiration or Gas Exchange

• Because gases can’t diffuse across scaly skin they need well developed and efficient lungs.

• Reptiles have muscles attached to their rib cage that enables their lungs to inflate and deflate.

Reptile lung

Reproductive System

• A reptile reproduces sexually with the female's eggs being fertilized by the male internally.

• The eggs, which have a leathery surface, are then carefully deposited in the animal’s environment.

• The shells are permeable to oxygen and other gases.• These eggs have complex membrane systems. • Reptiles are born fully developed, there is no metamorphosis or

larval stage (transition stages). This allowed reptiles to be some of the first animals to live from birth to death on land.

Nervous/ Sensory System

With the exception of blind snakes, reptiles rely more heavily on vision than on any other sense. Most reptiles lack external ears and instead have an eardrum that is near the eyes and under the skin.

Snakes have their smell organ in their mouth. They smell by flicking their tongue against the organs surface, after collecting particles from the air on their tongues.

^^^(This is a video)^^^

Circulatory system• Voice thread• They also have a unique

double loop blood vessel system that pumps through the heart, then through the rest of the body.

• “Four” Chambered heart• Nearly all reptiles have three-

chambered hearts; the exceptions are crocodilians, which have four-chambered hearts.

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4

Excretory System

• Water reptiles mostly excrete wastes in the form of ammonia.

• Most others convert their waste in to a compound called uric acid, which contains very little water, so as to preserve water, for the reptile’s survival.

Digestive System• Food enters through the mouth.

• It is carried down the esophagus and digested in the stomach.

• It is then neutralized by the gall bladder.

• The digested food is further digested and absorbed by the intestines.

• It is then excreted from the body.

Sea Turtle

Tuarta- Lives only on the islands of New Zealand!

Frilled Lizard

Interesting lizard- defense tactic

Bibliography• Animal Profiles: Lizards. Rainbow Educational Media. 1991. United streaming. 1 April 2008

http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

• World's Best: Series: Living Dinosaurs. BBC. 2002. United streaming. 1 April 2008. http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

• Miller, Kenneth. Levine, Joseph. Biology: The Living Science. Prentice Hall. 2000. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Pg. 710

• Animals: Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish. Macmillan Library Reference USA. 1999. New York, New York. Pgs. 396-454

• O’Shea, Mark. Halliday, Tim. Reptiles and Amphibians. Dorling Kindersley Publishing Inc. 2001. New York, New York. Pg. 12-15, 19, 21-34, 44-195.

• Badger, David. Lizards: A Natural History Of Some “Uncommon Creatures- Extraordinary chameleons, Iguanas, Geckos, and More. 2003. Voyageur Press Inc. Stillwater, Minnesota.

• Importance of Snakes. World Book Encyclopedia online. Mar 28, 2008. www.worldbook.com/wb/students?content_spotlight/reptiles/type/shake_imp

• Reptiles internal Organs. World Book Encyclopedia Online. Mar 28, 2008. www.worldbook.com/wb/students/reptiles/

• Frondorf, Anne. Reptiles. Monroe County Women’s Disability Network. Mar 28, 2008. www.mcwdn.org/Animals/Animals.htm

The End