ZOOLOGY STUDY GUIDE - Ye. O. Nevedomska - 2013

LECTURE 16. CLASS REPTILES (Reptilia)

2. Classification of the Class Reptiles (Reptilia)

Four orders of reptiles are recognized:

1. Squamata — chameleons, lizards, and snakes.

2. Turtles (Testudines, or Chelonia) — red-eared slider.

3. Crocodilians (Crocodylia) — marsh crocodile, American crocodile, spectacled caiman.

4. Rhynchocephalia (Sphenodontia) — tuatara.

Giants among lizards:

✵ Komodo dragon, or giant monitor lizard (length 3.6 m, lives on the islands of the Malay Archipelago).

Giants among snakes:

✵ anaconda (length up to 11 m, lives along the Water bodies of South America);

✵ reticulated python (length up to 12 m, lives in South America).

Giants among turtles:

✵ leatherback sea turtle (up to 2-2.5 m long, weighing up to 750 kg, lives in the warm seas of our planet);

✵ green sea turtle (up to 1 m long, weighing up to 450 kg, inhabits tropical and subtropical seas);

✵ giant tortoise (up to 2 m long, weighing up to 400 kg, lives on the islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, particularly the Galapagos Islands).

Giants among crocodiles:

✵ Nile crocodile (up to 8 m long, lives in the water bodies of tropical Africa);

✵ saltwater crocodile (up to 6 m long, lives in Southeast Asia, on the islands of the Malay Archipelago, in Northern Australia and New Guinea);

✵ gharial (up to 6 m long, lives in southern India).