파충류샵 Reptiles are air-breathing vertebrates covered with special skin (scales, bony plates or both) that includes crocodiles, alligators, snakes and lizards. They shed their skin several times a year.
Like mammals, they cannot generate enough internal heat to maintain a constant body temperature so they are cold-blooded. They rely on their environment for warmth on cold days and cooling off on hot ones by moving between sun and shade.
Snakes
Snakes are elongated, limbless reptiles that evolved from a tetrapod ancestor. They are cold-blooded (ectothermic) and eat meat, fish and amphibians. They have a three-chambered heart, a flexible lower jaw that allows them to swallow prey 75% – 100% larger than their head and specialized senses that aid in hunting and avoiding enemies.
Because of the absence of teeth, snakes rely on their highly flexible jaws to swallow animals whole. The lower jaws are not fused to the skull, which enables them to expand wider than their own heads and to take in air through a tube at the bottom of their mouths. The lower jaws also have a row of small teeth that help them chew, but they are not required to do so since their digestive system will break down the food after it is ingested.
Snakes use their long, forked tongues to smell for prey or enemies. As the snake flicks its tongue, scent molecules are gathered at the end of the forked papillae and then carried to special sacs, called Jacobson’s organs, in the roof of its mouth. These organs can identify a wide variety of scents. Using this information, the snake can then sniff out its next meal or an enemy. The process of eating uses so much energy that after a meal, snakes often become inactive and may even regurgitate the contents of its digestive tract.
Lizards파충류샵
The lizards (Squamata) are the most diverse group of reptiles. They range in size from chameleons and geckos only a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon of Indonesia. The scaly creatures inhabit every continent except Antarctica and most oceanic island chains. They eat a wide variety of plants and animals, from insects and birds to mammals and other lizards.
All reptiles share several common characteristics: scaly skin; cold-bloodedness, which means they do not self-regulate their body temperature; and oviparity, or laying eggs rather than developing a larval stage as amphibians do. Like snakes, lizards do not have the ability to produce their own body heat; they depend on the outside environment to regulate their internal temperature through a process called ectothermic regulation, which involves absorbing warmth and dispersing it throughout the body via preferential circulation of warmed and cooler blood.
Most lizards can’t blink, but many can see in color and use their tongues to clean their eyes. Some, such as the iguana, can even regenerate lost tails. However, the new tails are mostly cartilage and don’t grow the same bones as the originals, according to a 2015 study published in Developmental Biology.
While most lizards spend their lives alone, some, such as the desert night lizard (Xantusia vigilis), form long-term pair bonds. Males may follow a female for weeks or months, defending her from other males that try to mate with her.
Turtles
Turtles are one of four groups of living reptiles classified as Testudines, the other three being Crocodilia (crocodiles and alligators), Squamata (snakes and lizards) and Rhynchocephalia (tuatara). They share key characteristics with the other members of this class – they have an impenetrable shell to protect them, they lay eggs with a protective outer membrane and they breathe air through lungs.
While many animals have shells, only turtles have a body-wide bony shell that covers their entire bodies. The top of this shell is called a carapace and the bottom is known as a plastron. A turtle’s shell is fused together, so that it cannot be exited like the skin of snakes and lizards. They are also ectothermic, which means that their internal temperature depends on the ambient environment, so they are cold-blooded.
The shell is used as a shield to protect the turtle from predators and prey and to help them to regulate their own body temperature. All turtles are herbivores, but they can also eat fish and scavenge other dead organisms. They have two lungs with many internal folds to increase surface area for efficient gas exchange. They have a unique skull that allows them to rapidly enlarge the cavity of their mouth when striking at their prey. They have a single auditory bone (the stapes) that transmits sound vibrations to their inner ear.
Newts
Newts have lizard-shaped bodies and four legs. Some species have smooth skin, while others have rough, grainy skin. Most have lungs and are air-breathing, but some retain gills and are fully aquatic.
Like frogs, toads and salamanders, newts are nocturnal and hide during the day behind plants, rocks or kitsch items in their environment. In addition, their brightly colored skins serve as a warning to predators that they are toxic and would not make for a tasty meal.
The ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl) has a special trick up its sleeve to protect itself from would-be predators: The animals can rotate their ribs, which poke out through the skin, into position just above a predator’s head and shoulders. The ribs are covered with a milky poison secreted simultaneously, which creates protective spikes and turns the ribbed newt into a living weapon.
Despite their defenses, newts are preyed on by snakes, birds and larger amphibians. Water pollution and habitat degradation are major threats, too. In addition, millions of newts are captured each year for the pet trade and often die as a result. Newts are also at risk from being mistaken for tadpoles by young children and sold as cruel living keychain ornaments. Luckily, a remarkable newt healing power gives these reptiles a chance to recover. Scientists were amazed to find that newts can regenerate fully functional limbs, jaws, spinal cords, heart ventricles and even eyes.