One way to divide the animal kingdom into categories is by characteristics. Animals can be grouped as mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, etc. Reptiles are animals that are related to amphibians and include turtles, lizards and snakes.
They have dry scaly skin which they shed periodically to make room for new skin beneath it. Reptiles live on all continents except Antarctica but mostly in tropical regions with controlled temperatures. In this article, we are going to look at the most popular reptiles.
10 Example of Animals that are Reptiles
1. Snakes:
Snakes are part of the order of reptiles which includes snakes, lizards, and turtles. They have a body with a lot of bones in it.
The skeleton is different from that found in mammals and birds. In a snake, the bones are connected together by a system of ligaments that allow the snake to move around. The snake has 3 sections to its body: head, neck, and tail. Snakes have two types of vision: binocular and trinocular.
2. Lizards:
Lizards are a monotypic group of reptiles that includes monitors, iguanas, and crocodilians. Lizards have dry scaly skin and they have 3 legs for walking around on the ground. They have been around since the time of dinosaurs and they still exist today. In South America, there are more than 3,000 species of lizards and in North America about 1,300 species (2006).
3. Alligators:
Alligators are large reptiles mostly found in the southern parts of North America such as Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. (The same as crocodiles). They are related to crocodiles and caimans. Alligators can grow up to 13 feet (4 m) long and weigh up to 700 pounds (317 kg). They usually eat fish, turtles, snakes and small mammals, and birds. However, they will sometimes attack humans if they feel threatened or provoked.
4. Turtles:
Turtles are long-necked land-dwelling reptiles with a bony shell. They are mostly eat insects but some of them have been known to eat fish and small mammals. Turtles can be found all over the world including Australia, North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Turtles have existed through most of the past 100 million years since dinosaurs went extinct.
5. Komodo Dragon:
The Komodo dragon is the largest species of lizard. They are mostly found on islands off the coast of Indonesia, their native habitat. They are carnivorous animals with strong jaws for hunting large prey.
6. Geckos:
Geckos are lizards that can climb up walls and even upside down. They have very sticky feet that help them to stay on surfaces during windy days. Geckos can be found on every continent of the world except for Antartica. They usually eat insects but some of them also eat flowers and fruit.
7. Crocodiles:
Crocodiles are large reptiles that live in the tropics in Africa, Asia, Australia, North & South America. Some species live in saltwater while others live in fresh water. They are carnivorous animals that kill their prey with their strong teeth and even sometimes their bare hands (their jaws are so strong).
8. Chameleons:
Chameleons are reptiles that are found in the forests of Madagascar, Sub-Saharan Africa, Arabia and Sri Lanka. They have long hands that help them grab onto branches while they are climbing around. They have the ability to change their color for camouflage and communication.
9. Monitor lizard:
Monitor lizards are reptiles with long bodies and strong jaws for hunting large prey such as fish, birds and smaller monitor lizards. They usually eat fish but also sometimes other animals such as rats or bats when they can’t get any fish.
10. Iguanas:
Iguanas are large reptiles found in the jungles of Central and South America. Just like any other lizard they can change their color to blend in with their surroundings. Iguanas like warm weather and they usually eat plants but sometimes they eat insects as well.
What Animals Count as Reptiles?
A lizard is a reptile, but a pterosaur is a reptile too. Some people might claim that dinosaurs are more of a mammal than of a reptile because they have feathers and walk on 2 legs. Others might say that because pterosaurs existed for over 100 million years of their time, they are more amniotic.
We will stick to the definition that we use here on this site of reptiles being amniotes so moving on to the definitions below. Reptiles are usually cold-blooded and do not have sweat glands (at least not on every part of their body as we do).
Reptiles lay amniotic eggs and some reptiles give live birth. Reptiles also have a three-chambered heart and a dermal skeleton. Reptiles are members of the clade Reptilia, which includes turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodilians, and tuataras.
Conclusion
There is a lot of diversity in the animal kingdom and many animals defy our attempts to categorize them.
Some of these animals are reptiles, but so are some amphibians and birds. These animals, however, share some traits such as live birth, breathing air, and laying amniotic eggs.
Since these traits apply to reptiles as well as other animals such as birds and amphibians we will use the term reptile to include all these animals.
Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.
