| Saturday, May 31, 2008 |
| Reptile Facts - 2 |
Reptiles, like birds, have voluntary control over the muscles in their eyes, which determine their pupil size. This means that they are able to constrict or dilate their pupils at will, not just in response to light.
The brain of a reptile is not more than 1 percent of his body mass. This means that the brain of a 70-pound python is no larger than a lima bean. Unlike amphibians, however, the reptilian brain has two hemispheres. Since man appears to use very little of his brain mass, the reptilian brain appears to be highly and efficiently adapted. The nervous systems of reptiles are sufficiently complex and similar to those of mammals that we can conclude that their senses and pain perception are highly refined. We are only beginning to understand just how highly specialized these animals are.
Reptiles were the first vertebrates to evolve with 12 cranial nerves. "Lower" vertebrates have 10 pairs of these important nerves, which govern activities of the senses, such as sight, hearing and taste.
The jaw structure of a reptile does not permit chewing; they can only tear their food.
Some reptile species are known to store sperm and produce young 3 and perhaps 6 or more years after a single, successful mating. In some cases, it is possible to have an infertile clutch followed by a fertile clutch without further matings.
The sex of a turtle is determined by the temperature at which the egg is incubated, with warmer temperatures producing females, cooler temperatures producing males and temperatures in the middle resulting in a mixed clutch. The situation is reversed for crocodiles, with males predominating at higher temperatures. The gender of a snake is determined by chromosomes, as it is in the case of mammals and birds.
Reptiles do not have sweat or sebaceous glands; therefore, they are not slimy. They are, however, waterproof, and this, in addition to lacking a metamorphic stage is one of the distinctions between amphibians and reptiles (tadpoles metamorphose, or change, into frogs). The reptilian egg, with calcium in its shell is not dependant on development in water, as is the amphibian egg.
Reptiles are not "cold blooded"; rather they are ectothermic animals, which rely on heat to be provided by the environment, as they produce little of their own. Behavior, such as seeking shade, gaping and shunting blood toward or away from the body surface allows impressively fine control of body temperature several degrees above or below the ambient temperature. When housed in suitable environments, most reptiles when active, maintain a body temperature similar to that of mammals. |
posted by Reptile Fellow @ 12:21 AM  |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, May 27, 2008 |
| Snake in the Grass |
An example of Camoflague Photo Source: National Geographic Photo GalleryPhotographer: Sam Abell |
| posted by Reptile Fellow @ 12:20 AM |
|
|
|
| Saturday, May 24, 2008 |
| Reptile Facts - 1 |
There are 8,240 species of reptiles in the world, inhabiting every continent except Antarctica.
Reptiles are cold-blooded, or "ectothermic," animals, which means that they depend on external sources, such as the sun, to maintain their body temperatures. Since they don't burn energy to heat internal "furnaces," reptiles eat 30 to 50 times less food than do birds and mammals (warm-blooded animals) of similar sizes.
Only a few hundred of the world's 3,000 snakes are venomous. In the United States, only rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths, and coral snakes are poisonous. More Americans die each year from bee and wasp stings than from snake bites.
Averaging ten to 12 feet in length, the king cobra is the largest venomous snake in the world. It is also the only known snake that builds a nest for egg incubation.
Depending upon the size of the meal, anacondas can go several months between meals.
The emerald tree boa can strike a bird or small mammal in complete darkness. The pits along the lips of most boas and pythons, and the nostril-like cavities of pit vipers, are infrared heat receptors. Snakes use these pits to sense the location of anything that differs in temperature from its surroundings by as little as 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit. |
| posted by Reptile Fellow @ 12:20 AM |
|
|
|
| Monday, May 19, 2008 |
| Black King Snake |
Photo Source: National Geographic Photo GalleryPhotographer: Medford Taylor |
| posted by Reptile Fellow @ 12:19 AM |
|
|
|
| Friday, May 16, 2008 |
| What Is a Reptile? |
| Reptiles have been around for 300 million years, and during the age of the dinosaurs, they ruled the Earth. Those days are long gone, and those giants have vanished, but some 6,500 species of reptiles still thrive today. Crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and turtles are all reptiles. Most reptiles live on land, and most lay eggs. They are vertebrates, and, unlike any other animals, are covered in scales. They are cold-blooded, and regulate their body temperature by seeking or avoiding the sun's heat. |
| posted by Reptile Fellow @ 12:19 AM |
|
|
|
| Thursday, May 15, 2008 |
| www.reptile.co.nr |
| Hi folks! Welcome to http://www.reptile.co.nr/ - a site containing everything you ever wanted to know about reptiles!!! |
| posted by Reptile Fellow @ 6:04 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
