REPTILES

habitat
 on land or some in water
 warm places (ectotherm)
 mainly tropical forests and deserts
 all continents expect Antarctica

classification
TESTUDINES
= “having a shell”
 356 knowm species
turtles, tortoises and terrapins
 oldest class of reptiles – arose approximately 200 million year
 special bony or cartilaginous shell that works as shield
 the upper shell: carapace, the lower shell: plastron
 varies in length: 8cm – 200cm weight: 140g – 900kg
 lay eggs on land
 none exhibit parental care
two clades of turtles:
 Pleuodira: retract the neck with a horizontal curve
 Cryptodira: retracts the neck in a vertical S-curve
Examples: Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

CROCODILIA
crocodiles and alligators
 mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles
 first appeared 95 million years ago
natural habitat: lowlands in the tropics, but alligators also live in the southeastern United States and the Yangtze
river in china
 long flattened snouts, laterally compressed tails
 eyes, ears, and nostrils at the top of the head
 thick skin and covered in non-overlapping scales
 typically solitary and territorial
 unlike most other reptiles, they care for their hatched young
Example: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)

SQUAMATA
 10 000 spieces
 the largest order of reptiles
 closely related to tuatara
lizards, snakes and amphisbaenians
 distinguished by their skins: horny scales / shields
 able to open their mouths very wide (large pray) - movable quadrate bones
 some can create and use venom
Examples: Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis)

SPHENODONTIA
 lizard-like reptiles
now only one living species: tuatara
Two subspecies: Sphenodon punctatus punctatus
Sphenodon punctatus guntheri
 only inhabit parts of New Zealand
 “Third eye“ on the top of the head – sensitive to light
 two parallel rows of teeth in its upper jaw
structure
 scales made of tough keratin, dry, they prevent absorption of oxygen through skin
ectotherms: metabolism does not produce enough heat energy – unstable body temperature
controlling body temperature through external processes - very economical metabolic rate

aestivation: brumation:
 state of animal dormancy, similar  similar process as aestivation, during cold
to hibernation temperatures
 during times of heat and dryness  reptiles hide in burrows or stay underground
 response to high temperatures and arid  heart rate drops same as respiration frequency
conditions  during warmer days they can move to find
 inactivity and lowered metabolic rate to save water
energy

circulatory system
most reptiles: three chamber heart – two atria and one partially divided ventricle
 the blood float can be altered to  pump deoxygenated blood to the body / stop blood flow to the lungs
crocodilians: 4-chambered heart
some snakes and lizards: 3-chamber hearts that can act as four-chamber hearts during contraction

respiration
 breathe through their lungs (better lungs than amphibians)
 little sacs called ALVEOLI – across which gas is exchanged
lung ventilation is done differently in each main reptile group:
 Squamates: the lungs are ventilated almost exclusively by the muscles of the chest wall
 Crocodilians: have a muscular diaphragm
most reptiles lack a secondary palate = division between the nasal and the oral cavity

nervous system and sense organs

brain: dominated by the brain stem and cerebellum - controls instinctive survival behaviour
eyes and nose well developed – good eyesight (expect snakes) and sense of smell
snakes eyes: short-sighted
 snakes flicks their forked tongue, carries particles to the roof of a snake’s mouth => jacobson‘s organ = two
hollow, highly sensitive sac-like structures

excretion
 performed mainly by two kidneys
crocodilians, snakes, lizards, and tuatara: uric acid 
turtles: excrete urea
 urinogenital ducts and the anus empty into cloaca
 urinary bladder is presented in all turtles, tortoises and most lizards
 use the colon to help with reabsorption of water

digestion
 mostly insectivorous or carnivorous
 some are herbivores (turtles)
 short digestive tracts
slow digestion: inability to divide and masticate food
metabolism – very low energy requirements – can digest for long period of time

reproduction: OVIPAROUS
 amniotic eggs
 generally reproduce sexually
 few species asexually (parthenogenesis) through cloaca
turtles and crocodilians: penis
squamata: pair of hemipenes
tuatara: lack copulatory organs
eggs: leathery or calcareous shells
some reptiles: temperature-dependent sex determination (tdsd)