BIOL108 Lecture 32: Nov. 28 (Reptiles)

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Biology (Biological Sciences)
• Course: BIOL108
• Professor: Lien Luong

Document Summary

Extant non-avian reptiles: turtles, crocodilians, lizards, and snakes. Testudines (turtles and tortoises): bony dorsal and ventral shield that provides them with protection. The dorsal shell is fused to the vertebrae. Anapsid: skull is a solid box without large openings behind the eyes. Males have intromittent organ: genitalic structure to transfer sperm to female. They live a long time and they have a slow reproduction. They look like lizards but lack the modified jaw structures and male genitalia present in squamates. They are characterized by having a loosely jointed jaw and skull and paired hemipenes in male. Lizards have external ear openings, but snakes do not. Snakes have an inner ear, and they hear using vibrations. There are skeletal remnants of hind legs present in some pythons. Lizards are mostly predators of insects and small vertebrates. All snakes are predatory, and they eat mostly vertebrates. They kill prey by suffocation (constriction) or by venom.