HERPETOLOGY PAGE

Herpetology-study of reptiles and amphibians
Reptiles include snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodilians. Most have sharp teeth and claws. They're skin isn't slimy like amphibians' either.

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Snakes are water dwellers, or land dwellers. Some are poisonous, and others nonpoisonous. Most snakes aren't poisonous, yet people constantly live in fear of them. Nonpoisonous snakeshave round pupils and no fangs, just two jaws with sharp teeth. Poisonous snakeshave pupils shaped like a cat's pupil and they have fangs. When handling a snake, grab it right behind the head. This will keep the snake from biting you. Venomous snakes always regulate the amount of poison injected into their prey. They don't when they strike in self defense. Since they only produce a certain amount of poison, they only strike a person if absolutely necessary. They have no eyelids, so they sleep with their eyes open. Snakes have four methods of motion. The only one I can immediately recall is sidewinding.

Lizards have teeth, claws(unlike snakes), and a tail(as do all reptiles). Some lizards look much like snakes. Those usually look so similar the only way of telling the difference is watching it blink its eyes.

Turtles have claws and a shell. They are the only reptiles with a shell. The top part is called the carapace and the bottom is called the plastron. They're divided into three groups:turtles, terrapins, and tortoises.Turtleslive almost their entire life in salt water. Most have fin shaped legs, unlike their land cousins.Terrapinslive in fresh water. They can survive for a while out of water, but no more than a couple of hours.Tortoiseslive their life on land. They must be around water occasionally, to keep from dehydration. All reptiles "drink" by absorbing water through their skin. They don't have any teeth, just a beak like a bird does.

Crocodilians have three types:alligators, crocodiles, and caimens. These I never took much interest in learning about, so that's about all I really know about them. However, some can range like 25 feet long. The caimen averages from 6 foot to sometimes 8 foot long. Caimens are sometimes prey to boa constrictors in South America.

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