INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS OF REPTILES 



The Orders of Living Reptiles 



PRONUNCIATION aHOUP3 INCLUDED 



EXAMPLES 



Crocodilia . . Croc-0-dil'i-a. 



Chelonia. . . . Ke-lo'ni-a . 



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



Gavials, Crocodiles, 

 Alligators. 



Tortoises, Terrapins 

 and Sea Turtles. 



Iguanas, Slow- 

 Worms, Skinks. 



[ Colubrine Snakes, 



Ophidia 0-fid'i-a \ Rattlesnakes, Harle- 



[ quin Snakes. 



Florida Crocodile, 

 Alligator. 



Box Tortoise, Paint- 

 ed Terrapin, 

 Hawksbill Turtle. 



Marine Iguana, Glass 

 "Snake," Blue- 

 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. 



