User:Aashifa/Zoology museum/Museum specimens/Reptilia

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Class Reptilia

Date & Time : 12, November 2024 15:49



General Characteristics of Reptilia

Classification of Reptilia

A Few Examples

1.Chelone

Common name-Green turtle.

Distribution-

Habitat-marine.

Food-marine algae.

Identifying characters-

  • Body color-olive or brown with yellowish spots.
  • Body length-85-110 cm.
  • Integument- covered by smooth shell.
  • four pairs of coastal shields on dorsal surface fitting closely.
  • Head-one pair of prefrontal shields covers the head.
  • EyesConsisting of eyelids and nictating membrane.
  • Limbs-wing-like paddles with only one claw.
  • Tail is short.
  • Unhooked jaws are present.

2.Testudo

Common name-land tortoise.

Distribution-

Habitat-

Food-worms and insects.

Identifying characters-

  • Body length-30 cm.
  • Carapace-very convex, no nuchal plate.
  • Plastron-concave, central and marginal scales are yellow starred.
  • Feet-phalanges are reduced to two in digits.
  • male is smaller than female.
  • They can live without water for along time.
  • In cold water, it hibernates underground.

3.Hemidactylus

Common Name-House lizard.

Distribution

Food-insects.

Identifying characters

  • Body length-25 cm.
  • Body color-pale green.
  • Integument-scaly,minute and smooth scales.
  • Eyes-small eyes but eyelids are fused.
  • Ears-like openings whichare vertical.
  • Tongue-short, stcky and slightly notched.
  • Tail-long tail having a great power of regeneration.
  • Digits-smooth surface,clawed and two rows of ridged lamellae which help in movement.
  • several femoral pores are present on the thigh of male.

General characters-

  • amphicelous vertebrae.
  • parietal organs present.
  • oviparous.
  • one supra-temporal arch is present.

4.Varanus

common name-common Indian monitor.

Distribution-

Habitat-burrows and trees.

Food-reptiles, mammals and dead bodies etc.

Identifying characters-

  • body length-60 cm.
  • Body color-brownish color with darker spots in rows.
  • Integument-skin is covered with scales -dorsal and vetral.
  • Dorsal-very small scales with tubercles and ventral scales are arranged in rows.

5.Ophiosaurus

Common name-glass-snake or limblees lizard.

Distribution-

Habitat-burrows and bushy loclities.

Food-snails, mice, insects,worms and small lizaards.

Identifying characters-

  • Body-long, cylindrical and similar to snake.
  • Head-similar to the typical lizard.
  • Eyes-movable eyelids on eyes.
  • Ear-openings represents the ear.
  • Tongue-consist of anterior(thin,extensile and retractile) and posterior(thicker).
  • Integument-covered by scales which is further underlyning by bony pltes.
  • Limbs-reduced to small cloacal spikes(a pair).
  • Tail-long and very brittle.

6.Draco

Common name-flying lizard.

Distribution-

Habitat

Food-

Identifying characters-

  • Body-dorso-ventrally compressed.
  • Body length-25 cm.
  • Eyes-very small eyes, but eyelids are complete.

7.Viper

Common name-daboia.

Distribution-

Habitat-rocky bushy regions.

Identifying characters-

  • Body-elongated.
  • Body color-pale brown but underparts are yellowish white. There are three longitudinal series of black spots.
  • Body length-one and a half of metre.
  • Head-triangular head with imbricate scales on upper surface.
  • Eyes-beuatiful eyes with golden iris and elliptical pupil.
  • Snout-angulate, nasal opening is quite prominent.
  • Scales-scales are arranged in thirty rows.
  • Supra-labials-10-12,4th is the largst.
  • General characters-
  • viviparous.
  • carnivorous.
  • it's venom is haemotoxic.

8.Elaps

Common name-coral snake

Distribution-

Habitat-

Food-

Identifying characters-