Reptile
A Reptile is a tetrapod that has an ectothermic metabolism and amniotic development and that evolved during the Carboniferous period approximately 312 million years ago.
- AKA: Reptilia, Cold-Blooded Vertebrate, Amniotic Tetrapod.
- Context:
- It can typically possess Scaly Skin composed of reptile keratin structures for reptile water conservation.
- It can typically utilize Ectothermic Metabolism requiring reptile external heat sources to regulate reptile body temperature.
- It can typically produce Amniotic Eggs containing reptile embryos protected by reptile egg membranes.
- It can typically exhibit Lung-Based Respiration enabling reptile terrestrial adaptation.
- It can typically feature Waterproof Integument preventing reptile water loss in reptile terrestrial environments.
- It can typically demonstrate Reptilian Skull Structure with reptile temporal fenestration patterns.
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- It can often display Reproductive Strategy ranging from reptile egg-laying behavior to reptile live birth mechanisms.
- It can often show Taxonomic Diversity across four main reptile orders with approximately 12,000 reptile species.
- It can often develop Behavioral Adaptations for reptile thermoregulation in various reptile habitats.
- It can often possess Specialized Anatomical Features such as reptile defensive structures and reptile locomotor adaptations.
- It can often exhibit Global Distribution across all reptile continental habitats except Antarctica.
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- It can range from being a Small Reptile to being a Large Reptile, depending on its reptile species size variation.
- It can range from being a Terrestrial Reptile to being an Aquatic Reptile, depending on its reptile habitat adaptation.
- It can range from being a Carnivorous Reptile to being a Herbivorous Reptile, depending on its reptile dietary specialization.
- It can range from being a Primitive Reptile to being a Highly Derived Reptile, depending on its reptile evolutionary advancement.
- ...
- It can interact with Environmental Conditions through reptile thermoregulatory behaviors such as reptile basking and reptile burrowing.
- It can participate in Ecological Relationships through reptile predator-prey interactions and reptile ecosystem roles.
- It can demonstrate Evolutionary Significance as the ancestral group for both modern birds and extinct dinosaurs.
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- Examples:
- Reptile Taxonomic Orders, such as:
- Squamata (lizards and snakes), characterized by squamate skull mobility:
- Lizards, such as:
- Monitor Lizards demonstrating large reptile predatory behavior.
- Chameleons featuring specialized reptile color-changing adaptations.
- Geckos showing reptile adhesive toe pads for vertical reptile locomotion.
- Snakes, such as:
- Viperidae (vipers) possessing reptile venom injection systems.
- Colubridae (colubrids) demonstrating diverse reptile hunting strategies.
- Pythonidae (pythons) utilizing reptile constriction methods.
- Lizards, such as:
- Crocodilia (crocodilians), characterized by crocodilian semi-aquatic adaptations:
- Alligators featuring reptile armored dorsal plates.
- Crocodiles demonstrating reptile aquatic predation techniques.
- Gharials possessing specialized reptile fish-catching snouts.
- Testudines (turtles and tortoises), characterized by testudine shell structure:
- Aquatic Turtles such as Red-Eared Sliders adapted for reptile aquatic lifestyle.
- Terrestrial Tortoises such as Galapagos Tortoises demonstrating reptile longevity.
- Florida Box Turtles showing reptile defensive withdrawal behavior.
- Rhynchocephalia, characterized by primitive reptile anatomical retention:
- Tuatara exhibiting living reptile fossil characteristics.
- Squamata (lizards and snakes), characterized by squamate skull mobility:
- Reptile Reproductive Strategies, such as:
- Oviparous Reptiles laying reptile external eggs.
- Viviparous Reptiles giving reptile live birth through reptile placental analogs.
- Ovoviviparous Reptiles retaining reptile eggs internally until reptile hatching.
- ...
- Reptile Taxonomic Orders, such as:
- Counter-Examples:
- Amphibian, which undergoes aquatic larval stage unlike the direct reptile development and lacks amniotic egg structure.
- Fish, which possesses gill-based respiration rather than reptile lung-based respiration and lacks reptile terrestrial adaptations.
- Bird, which despite evolutionary reptile origin has developed endothermic metabolism and feathered body covering unlike typical ectothermic reptile characteristics.
- Mammal, which has endothermic metabolism, hair-covered skin, and mammary glands unlike reptile physiological traits.
- Earthworm, which is an invertebrate lacking the vertebral column and tetrapod limb structure found in reptile anatomy.
- See: Tetrapod, Amniote, Ectotherm, Carboniferous Period, Hylonomus, Pennsylvanian (Geology), Tuatara, King Cobra, Eastern Green Mamba, Gharial, Dinosaur, Sauropsida, Herpetology, Squamate, Oviparous, Viviparous.
References
2023
- (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reptile Retrieved:2023-10-28.
- Reptiles, in common parlance, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic ('cold-blooded') metabolism and amniotic development. Living reptiles comprise four orders: Testudines (turtles), Crocodilia (crocodilians), Squamata (lizards and snakes), and Rhynchocephalia (the tuatara). As of May 2023, about 12,000 living species of reptiles are listed in the Reptile Database. The study of the traditional reptile orders, customarily in combination with the study of modern amphibians, is called herpetology. Reptiles have been subject to several conflicting taxonomic definitions.[1] In Linnaean taxonomy, reptiles are gathered together under the class Reptilia (), which corresponds to common usage. Modern cladistic taxonomy regards that group as paraphyletic, since genetic and paleontological evidence has determined that birds (class Aves) are the living sister taxon to crocodilians, and are thus nested among reptiles from an evolutionary perspective. Many cladistic systems therefore redefine Reptilia as a clade (monophyletic group) including birds, though the precise definition of this clade varies between authors.[2][1] Others prioritize the clade Sauropsida, which typically refers to all amniotes more closely related to modern reptiles than to mammals.[2] The earliest known proto-reptiles originated around 312 million years ago during the Carboniferous period, having evolved from advanced reptiliomorph tetrapods which became increasingly adapted to life on dry land. The earliest known eureptile ("true reptile") was Hylonomus, a small and superficially lizard-like animal. Genetic and fossil data argues that the two largest lineages of reptiles, Archosauromorpha (crocodilians, birds, and kin) and Lepidosauromorpha (lizards, and kin), diverged near the end of the Permian period. In addition to the living reptiles, there are many diverse groups that are now extinct, in some cases due to mass extinction events. In particular, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event wiped out the pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, and all non-avian dinosaurs alongside many species of crocodyliforms, and squamates (e.g., mosasaurs). Modern non-bird reptiles inhabit all the continents except Antarctica. Reptiles are tetrapod vertebrates, creatures that either have four limbs or, like snakes, are descended from four-limbed ancestors. Unlike amphibians, reptiles do not have an aquatic larval stage. Most reptiles are oviparous, although several species of squamates are viviparous, as were some extinct aquatic clades – the fetus develops within the mother, using a (non-mammalian) placenta rather than contained in an eggshell. As amniotes, reptile eggs are surrounded by membranes for protection and transport, which adapt them to reproduction on dry land. Many of the viviparous species feed their fetuses through various forms of placenta analogous to those of mammals, with some providing initial care for their hatchlings. Extant reptiles range in size from a tiny gecko, Sphaerodactylus ariasae, which can grow up to to the saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, which can reach over in length and weigh over .