What is a Reptile

The web definition of reptile says-‘ any cold vertebrate of the class reptilian including tortoises, snakes, lizards, alligators, crocodiles and extinct forms’, are called reptiles.

Reptiles are intriguing creatures, shrouded by mysteries. They have been on this planet for more than 300 million years. People revere them yet are scared of them.

The class of reptile includes snakes, lizards, tuataras, turtles, tortoises, crocodiles and even birds. Some species like the dinosaurs which are now extinct, also fall in the same category. Broadly reptiles can be classified as:

1. Vertebrates – as they have a skeleton and a backbone to support their bodies.
2. Tetra pods – animals having 4 legs.
3. Amniotes- as they lay eggs which have amniotic fluid.

Initially reptiles were found only on land but later they adapted themselves to water; while some took to air. Reptiles are believed to be cold-blooded as they absorb the heat from the surrounding environment to heat or cool them.

Reptiles are either carnivores i.e. meat eaters, herbivores i.e. plant eaters or omnivores i.e. plant as well as meat eaters. Alligators are the fiercest meat eaters of all carnivorous reptiles. Turtles are also carnivorous while tortoises thrive on plants and leaves. Carnivorous reptiles mostly thrive on live prey.

Compared to other animals, reptiles usually have a long span of life. Tortoises can live as long as 150 years while pythons complete as much as 40 years. Even alligators are believed to cross 70 years of age. This is an unusually long span of life for creatures besides human beings.

In the Reptilia family, the snakes are the most revered and the most formidable of all reptiles. Although very few people know, that out of a wide variety of snakes, only 1/3rd are poisonous, and an even smaller percentage of them harm humans.

Reptiles generally cannot survive in cold places since they absorb heat from the environment to keep themselves warm. But the Blanding’s turtle is an exception to the rule. In spite of belonging to the family of reptiles, it can swim in ice lakes.

Reptiles hunt in a very interesting way. They do not use their noses to smell. Instead they flick their tongues that catch the scent in the air. Their tongue can sense the prey if it is around.

The larger the snake, the bulkier is the food intake. As they have a very slow rate of metabolism, this food takes a lot of time to digest. Thus they can live for months without food.

Amongst the reptiles, the reticulated python is the longest of all; the Anaconda is the bulkiest, and the King Cobra, the most poisonous. Although the ancient reptiles like the dinosaurs are extinct, yet about 6500 species still thrive on the planet today. Sea turtles have been living on this planet since the age of dinosaurs and are still found in oceans and seas. Crocodiles are now on the verge of extinction and conservationists are making all possible efforts to protect them.

So after reading this article one can easily figure out the qualities one usually finds in a reptile. After knowing the basics of a retile I am sure one can look after the reptile pet in a better manner than before.