EXTERNAL ANATOMY OF REPTILES 47

G. CLASS KEPTILIA: EXTERNAL ANATOMY

Present-day reptiles are easily distinguished from all other living vertebrates by their dry,
scaly skins. Gills are lacking in all stages of the life-history. Many present reptiles are similar
in general shape to early land tetrapods, but the class also contains groups highly modified
structurally in relation to mode of life.

1. Lizards (order Squamata, suborder Lacertilia).

Any common lizards may be examinedfor example, Anolis (so-called
chameleon of our southern states), Cnemidophorus (striped lizard or race runner), or
Sceloporus (spiny swift) or Crotaphytus (collared lizard). The body is
characteristically tetrapod in form, divisible into head, neck, trunk, and long tail. We
have seen that fishes and amphibians lack a distinct neck, the appearance of which is
correlated with the completed adoption of the land habitat. The body is completely-
clothed with horny scales, plates, or tubercles, which are not separate, detachable
structures like the scales of teleost fishes but are merely cornified thickenings of the
epidermis and hence form a continuous sheet which is shed at frequent intervals.
These horny thickenings occur in transverse or diagonal rows. In many lizards they
are crested or spined in at least some body regions, often along the middorsal line,
whereas other species present a smooth appearance. Notable among the spiny types
are the horned lizards (usually called "toads," genus Phrynosoma) of the southwestern
United States, armed with conspicuous spiny projections; the head spines or horns are
projections of the skull bones covered with a thin horny shell. The scales or plates of
lizards are often of different sizes in different body regions and on the head are almost
always enlarged to form the head shields, much used in identifying lizards and named
after the underlying skull bones. In some lizards bony pieces underlie the horny skin
thickenings.
Locate external nares (nostrils); do they open into the mouth cavity.'' The eyes
of lizards usually have movable upper and lower eyelids, and there may be present a
third eyelid, the nictitating membrane, a thin membrane concealed from view when
not in use in the anterior corner of the eye, where it may be sought with a forceps.
Halfway between the eye and the base of the forelimb there is in many lizards a
conspicuous ear. The visible part of this may consist, as in frogs, of the eardrum flush
with the surface or slightly depressed; or, as in Anolis, the eardrum may have sunk
 inward and lies at the bottom of a depression, the external ear. In some lizards the
eardrum is more or less concealed under projecting scales or may be hidden under the
skin. The eardrum belongs to the part of the ear termed the middle ear, present in
reptiles in general, also in frogs and toads, but lacking in fishes and salamanders; and
in some reptiles, as just seen, there is a further advance in the formation of an external
ear passage by the insinking of the eardrum.

48 EXTERNAL ANATOMY AND RADIATION IN GNATHOSTOMES

In many lizards ( Anolis, Sceloporus, Crotaphytus, Phyrnosoma) there occurs
in the center of the head, shortly behind the level of the posterior ends of the eyes, a
small spot, usually greenish, resembling a lens, often in the center of an enlarged
scale. A hand lens or binocular microscope will aid,in seeing it. This is a modified,
translucent scale which overlies the pineal eye (more correctly called parietal eye), a
third median eye found in a number of vertebrates. It lies in an opening through the
roof of the skull, beneath the modified scale. It has the histological structure of an
"eye and serves some optic function.
Skin folds are common in lizards on throat, neck, sides of trunk, or middorsal
line. Often these can be erected and are then displayed in courtship or combat. They
may be limited to the male sex. In Anolis and sotoe other lizards there is such a fold,
the gular or throaifold, running lengthwise of the throat, which can be extended (with
the aid of a special part of the hyoid apparatus) to form a fan or dewlap, red in color
because the red throat skin shows between the scales; this dewlap is much larger in
male than in female Anolis. The flying lizards (Draco) of the Indo-Malay region
parachute by spreading out lateral folds of the trunk, supported by rib extensions.
The paired limbs are similar to those of Necturus; they bear five digits, the
typical vertebrate number, terminating in horny claws. The limbs depart further from
the prirriitive position described in connection with Necturus, thus lifting the animal
above the ground to a greater extent. In the hind limb the thigh still extends out at
right angles to the body axis but is slightly rotated forward, so that the original dorsal
surface is becoming anterior.
The shank is directed ventrally and posteriorly and has undergone the same
sort of torsion as the thigh, whereas the foot retains the primitive position. In the
forelimb the upper arm is rotated in the opposite direction from that observed in the
thigh, so that the original preaxial surface is now^dorsal. The upper arm is directed
 posteriorly; the forearm and hand, downward and forward, and so rotated that their
original preaxial borders look inward instead of forward. Expanded adhesive digits
are common among lizards, enabling them to climb walls and trees.
Along the inner surface of the thighs of many lizards (not ilnoZz's), especially
in the males, is found a row of pores, the femoral pores. These are the openings of
sacs which secrete a yellowish waxy material of unknown purpose, probably used in
copulation.
The anus has the form of a transverse slit, a shape characteristic of lizards and
snakes. In males of lizards there are often a few enlarged scales behind the anus, and
these enable one to distinguish the sexes. Preanal pores, similar to the femoral pores,
may also occur. ^

2. Snakes (order Squamata, suborder Ophidia).

Snakes in general differ from lizards in lacking limbs and eyelids. However,
the absence of fore, hind, or both limbs is not uncom inon in lizards; and eyelids are
wanting in one whole group oif lizards, the geckos. Lizards and snakes are really
distinguished by characters of the skeleton. Examine several kinds of snakes; note
covering of homy scales or plates, whethei; smooth or crested, afid relafit# sizes itt
different body regions. How do you determine boundary of trunk and tail? On the
head and jaws mote head shields, much used in identification of snakes, position of
nostrils, shape of pupil'of eye. The middle ear is degenerate in snakes and completely
concealed from surface view. On the ventral surface note large ventral shields
contrasting with small scales of the dorsal side. The anal shield, in front of the anus,
is divided in many snakes. The ventral tail shields may differ from those anterior to
the anus.
A group of poisonous snakes called pit vipers, including the copperheads,
moccasins, and rattlesnakes, differs from all other snakes in having a pit on the side of
the head behind and below the nostrils. These pits, whose function was long an
enigma, are now known to act as temperature-detectors and enable the snake to
determine the presence of a warm object. In nature such objects would be warm-
blooded animals used as food, such as rabbits. The rattle of rattlesnakes consists of
dried rings of cornified skin. One such ring is left behind at each molt; and, as
rattlesnakes molt about three times a year, the age of a rattlesnake could be estimated
from the rings of the rattle were it not that the terminal rings are apt to break off in
 time; rattles of more than ten rings are very rare. Another characteristic of pit vipers is
thevertically elongated pupil of the eye.

3. Sphenodon (order Rhynchocephalia).

The Sphenodon of New Zealand, called tuatara by the natives, is the sole
survivor of the order Rhynchocephalia. It is the most primitive living reptile, but its
primitive characters are internal, chiefly skeletal, and externally the animal cannot be
distinguished from a large lizard. Compare a preserved specimen with the description
of lizards given above; the most noticeable feature is the middorsal row of spines. The
parietal eye of Sphenodon is better differentiated histologically than in any other
living vertebrate, but it is evident externally only in young specimens. In grown ones
there is usually no sign of its location present in the skin. Sphenodon was in danger of
extinction but is now protected in preserves on some small islands of the New
Zealand group.

4. Turtles (order Chelonia).

The turtles commonly seen in laboratories are the painted pond turtles (genus
Chrysemys). The body form of turtles is considerably modified from the typical
vertebrate shape. The reptilian head is followed by an unusually long and flexible
neck; the trunk, incased in a hard shell, is remarkably broad and flat; and the tail is
diminished in diameter and length. The turtle is thus one of those forms in which, as
in the skate, the transverse axis is elongated, whereas the other axes are shortened.
The skin shows the usual reptilian cornification in the form of large horny
shields covering the shell and small scales and thickenings on the legs, tail, and other
exposed parts. The skin of the head is usually bare but in some turtles is marked off
into large head shields.
The position of the external nares, close together at the tip of the head, permits
the animal to breathe air with only a slight exposure above water. The jaws lack teeth
and instead are clothed with hard horny beaks. The large eyes have upper and lower
eyelids and a nictitating membrane located in the anterior corner of the eye. Just
behind the angle of the jaws is seen the circular eardrum flush with the surface, as in
frogs.
The shell which incloses the trunk consists of a dorsal arched cfiraface, a
ventral flat plastron, and lateral bridges connecting carapace and plastron. Notebest
 on a live turtlehow head, neck, limbs, and tail can be jieatly folded under the
margins of the shell. The shell consists of large horny shields overlying bony plates,
each arranged in a definite pattern described l ^ r. The carapace is usually more
arched in female than'in male turtles. Note parts of the limbs, number of digits on
each, claws, webs. The clawg are longer in male than in female Chrysemys and some
other genera. The positions and torsions of the parts of the limbs are similar to those
of lizards.

Note the rounded anus.

Some variants in external features of turtles may be noted. The sea turtles reach
enormous size, up to 1,000 pounds in weight, and have large head shields and limbs modified
into swimming flippers. In the snapping turtles (Chelydra) carapace and tail are crested, and
the plastron is reduced to a narrow cross-shaped form which affords no protection for
projecting parts. These turtles defend themselves by their vicious fighting habits. In the mud
turtles (Kinostemon) the front and rear parts of the plastron are hinged and can be drawn up
closely against the carapace. A similar provision is seen in the box turtles {Terrepene), where
the plastron is hinged across the middle and is not bridged to the highly arched carapace. The
box turtles have terrestrial habits. The most curious turtles are the soft-shelled turtles
(Ami/da) with their flat, soft, leathery shells, devoid of skeletal support, their elongated snout,
and broad webbed swimming feet.

5. Alligators and crocodiles (order Crocodilia).

The crocodilians are very large reptiles of lizard-like appearance and
semiaquatic habits. The order is represented in the Americas by the Mississippi
alligator of our southern states and by the American crocodile, found in southern
Florida, in Mexico, and southward into South America. The snout of the alligator is
broad, and blunt, that of the crocodile narrowed and somewhat pointed. Compare the
alligator with lizards as to general body form and proportions, attitude of-the limbs,
number of digits, etc. Note position of the nostrils.
The prominent eyes have upper and lower eyelids and a well-developed
niqtitating membrane; the upper eyelid incloses a bony support. As in some lizards,
the alligator has an external ear, opening immediately behind the eye by a longitudinal
slit guarded above and below by skin fol'ds. The external covering of the alligator
consists, as in lizards, of squarish and rounded horny thickenings of the skin, which
are not molted in large pieces. On the animal's back these thickenings are underlain by
bony plates of the same shape and closely adherent to them. Some of the bony plates
are crested, and the horny thickenings follow the crests. In'larger specimens the horn
of the back is often worn away, exposing the bony plates. Alligator leather, like other
leather, consists of the tanned inner layer of the skin (dermis, see chap, vi), including
the bony plates, and retains nothing of the outer horny thickenings.