CHAPTER XXXIII 



THE REPTILIA 



The word "reptile" means to most people a slimy, poisonous 

 creature, but as a matter of fact reptiles are not slimy and very 

 few of them are poisonous. There are four large groups of rep- 

 tiles, and the members of any one group differ strikingly from 

 those of the others. They are the turtles, snakes, lizards, and 



Fig. 187. — Diagrams of the extinct reptiles, called pterodactyls, in various 

 positions. (From Seeley.) 



crocodiles. Reptiles live in all sorts of habitats, in the sea and in 

 fresh water, in the ground, on the ground, and in trees. In pre- 

 historic times there were reptiles that could fly (Fig. 187), but 

 none of them exist now. 



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