6 



INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS OF REPTILES 



THE ORDERS OF LIVING REPTILES 



ORDER PRONUNCIATION 



CROCODILIA . . Croc-o-dil'i-a. 



CHELONIA Ke-lo'ni-a . . . 



\ 



LACERTILIA . . La-ser-til'i-a . 

 OPHIDIA 0-fid'i-a 



GROUPS INCLUDED 



Gavials, Crocodiles, 

 Alligators. 



Tortoises, Terrapins 

 and Sea Turtles. 



Iguanas, Slow- 

 Worms, Skinks. 



Colubrine Snakes, 

 Rattlesnakes, Harle- 

 quin Snakes. 



1 Florida Crocodile, 

 J Alligator. 

 Box Tortoise, Paint- 



ed Terrapin, 



Hawksbill Turtle. 

 1 Marine Iguana,Glass 



"Snake," Blue- 

 J Tailed Lizard. 

 Anaconda, Timber 



Rattlesnake, Coral 



Snake. 



GENERAL CHARACTERS OF REPTILES. Chiefly through 

 certain extinct species the reptiles lead so directly into the 

 birds that the two Classes overlap each other. 



In the Berlin Museum are the well-preserved fossil re- 

 mains of a bird called the Ar-chae-op'ter-yx, which had a 

 long, lizard-like tail fully covered with feathers, and lizard- 

 like teeth in its beak. In 1873 Professor Marsh discovered, 

 in the chalk-beds of western Kansas, a low-formed, penguin- 

 like bird, called the Hes-per-or'nis, also provided with teeth. 



All reptiles are cold-blooded animals, and breathe air by 

 means of lungs. Because of the low temperature of their 

 blood, and their slow heart-action, many of them are able 

 to remain under water for quite lengthy periods of minutes, 

 not hours. Some turtles and terrapins become so thoroughly 

 dormant at the approach of winter that the vital organs 

 actually suspend their functions, for a period of from one 

 to three months. It is then that these creatures bury them- 

 selves in the mud at the bottom of ponds, and so pass the 

 winter months. 



