Interesting features of reptiles. Interesting facts about reptiles

Scientists from Oxford analyzed the search queries on Wikipedia pages and ranked the most "popular" reptiles in the world.

Scientists have analyzed 55.5 million page views of the English Wikipedia, which speaks of 10,002 species of reptiles. It turned out that the most interesting species are poisonous, dangerous to humans, as well as reptiles with large mass bodies or endangered. The results of this work can play a significant role in making decisions on the conservation of endangered species.

10. Common boa constrictor

In length it reaches 2 - 3 m in captivity and up to 5 - 5.5 meters in nature. Distributed in the South and Central America and in the Lesser Antilles. Feeds on small mammals, birds, sometimes reptiles.

9. Nile crocodile

Is an largest crocodile in Africa and is considered the second largest crocodile in the world after the crested one. Reaches 5.5 m in length. Average duration the life of Nile crocodiles is 45 years, but there are specimens up to at least 80 years old. According to various sources, the frequency of attacks by Nile crocodiles on people ranges from 200 to 1000 cases annually.

8. Leatherback turtle

These are the largest modern turtles: in the largest measured specimen, the total body length was 2.6 m, the span of the front flippers was 2.5 m, and the mass was 916 kg. Their carapace is not connected with the skeleton, consists of small bone plates and is covered with dense skin.

7. Mississippi alligator

One of two known species alligators. Dwells in North America and is considered endemic to the southeastern United States, where it is raised on farms for their skins and meat. Alligators often eat prey that may seem unusual to them - they attack red lynxes, Florida panthers, Florida cougars, black bears, and also eat fruits.

6. Water snake

A venomous snake found in the waters of the southeastern United States. One of the five species of snakes, which account for up to 95% of all snake bites in USA. The consequences of his bite are very painful, but deaths extremely rare. In captivity, they live well, quickly get used to the owner, willingly eat dead food. They cannot be kept with other snakes due to the fact that the water snake eats them.

5. Arizona Gila monster

A venomous lizard found in the southern United States and Mexico. Length adult reaches up to 60 cm, of which about 15-17 cm is the tail. An adult gila monster is able to eat up to 35% of its body weight at a time. With abundant nutrition, it quickly accumulates fat in the tail.

4. King cobra

The largest poisonous snake the world inhabiting rainforest South and South-East Asia... The largest known specimen reached a length of 5.7 m. King cobras grow throughout life, and they live for more than 30 years. In nature King Cobra feeds mainly on other types of snakes, including highly poisonous ones, for which she received her scientific name- Ophiophagus hannah ("snake eater"). Can go without food for about three months.

3. A combed crocodile

Also known as sea ​​crocodile, cannibal crocodile, underwater crocodile, saltie, estuarine or Indo-Pacific crocodile. This is the largest modern reptile. Males combed crocodile can reach 7 m in length and weigh up to 2000 kg and are the only modern crocodiles that regularly grow over 5.2 meters. In ancient times, like nile crocodile, was an object of fear and worship.

2. Black mamba

Poisonous snake common in Africa. The black mamba has an extremely infamous dangerous snake, the bite of which, before the advent of antidotes, invariably led to lethal outcome... However, she is not aggressive and avoids human contact whenever possible, attacking only when caught off guard or cornered.

1. Giant Indonesian monitor lizard

The giant Indonesian monitor lizard, also known as Komodo or Komodo, is common on the Indonesian islands. Length of people living in wildlife individuals reach 3 meters, and weight - 70 kg. There are many known cases of lizards attacking people (especially children), including those with a lethal outcome for humans. Unfortunately, at present, their number only continues to grow.

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No animal can change colors in this way and look in two directions at once, so the chameleon definitely deserves to learn more about him. The naked eye can see that the chameleon is one of the most beautiful and unusual reptiles on the planet. Here are ten interesting facts you might not know about.

1. Almost half of the world's chameleon species live on the island of Madagascar with 59 different species that do not exist anywhere outside the island. There are approximately 160 types of chameleons. They are common from Africa to southern Europe, from South Asia to Sri Lanka. They were also brought into the United States in places such as Hawaii, California, and Florida. We have already written about the smallest chameleon in the world that lives in Madagascar.

2. Learn more about changing colors. Most chameleons change color from brown to green and back, but some can take on almost any color. Repainting can occur in just 20 seconds. Chameleons are born with special cells that have color or pigment in them. These cells are found in layers under the chameleon's upper shell. They are called chromatophores. The upper layers of chromatophores have a red or yellow pigment. The lower layers have blue or white pigment. When these pigment cells change, the chameleon's skin color changes.

Chromatophores change because they receive a message from the brain. The message tells the cells to grow or shrink. These actions cause the pigments in the cell to mix - just like paint. Melanin also helps chameleons change color. Melanin fibers can spread like spider webs through the layers of cells, and their presence causes the skin to darken.


Many people think that the color of chameleons is in harmony with their environment. Scientists disagree with this. Their research shows that light, temperature, and mood make chameleons change. Sometimes the color change can make the chameleon appear calmer. Sometimes it helps the reptile to communicate with other chameleons.

3. The eyes of the chameleon have a 360-degree view and see in two directions at once. Chameleons have the most special eyes of any reptile. They can rotate and focus separately to observe two different objects at the same time, which allows their eyes to move independently of each other.


This gives them a full 360 degree arc around their body. When prey is located, both eyes can be focused in the same direction, providing sharp stereoscopic vision and depth perception. Chameleons have very good vision for reptiles, allowing them to see small insects at a long distance (5-10 m).

4. Chameleons vary greatly in size and body arrangement with maximum length ranging from 15 millimeters in the male Brookesia micra (one of the smallest reptiles in the world) to 68.5 centimeters in the male Furcifer oustaleti.

5. The tongue of a chameleon can exceed 1.5-2 times the length of their body. They can shoot their tongue out of their mouth to capture prey. It has recently been found that smaller chameleons have proportionally larger tongues than larger ones. Throwing the tongue occurs with extremely high efficiency reaching prey in just 0.07 seconds.

6. Chameleon paws are extremely adapted to walking in trees. Each foot has five prominent toes, giving each foot a forceps-like effect. Each toe is also equipped with a sharp claw to help hold onto surfaces when climbing.

7. Males are generally much brighter. Many have embellishments on their heads or faces, while others may have large ridges on top.

8. Chameleons don't hear very well. Like snakes, chameleons have no outer or middle ear, so there is no eardrum. However, chameleons are not deaf. They can catch sound frequencies in the range of 200-600 Hz.

9. Chameleons see in both normal and ultraviolet light. Chameleons exposed to UV light show more activity and are more prone to hunting.

10. The American chameleon is not actually a chameleon. Anolis carolinensis is not a true chameleon, but a small lizard of the iguana family.

In continuation, read also about the most beautiful geckos in a separate collection dedicated to reptiles.

Slide 2

reptiles

20 species of reptiles are included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation:

• 2 types of turtles: Far Eastern and Mediterranean;
• 6 types of lizards: squeaky gecko, gray gecko, Barbour's lizard, Przewalski's lizard, average lizard and Far Eastern skink;
• 12 types of snakes: Western boa, Japanese, Aesculapius, Transcaucasian, thin-tailed and striped runners, red-belt and eastern dynodons; cat snake, vipers of Dinnik, Kaznakov and Nikolsky, as well as gyurza.

Slide 3

• Reptiles use their language in a wide variety of ways.
• Snakes use their tongues to perceive smells, chameleons grab insects, and the snapping turtle uses its tongue as bait to catch fish.

Slide 4

snakes

• Many snakes are small in size, and often the caught prey is much larger than the snake itself. However, this does not in the least interfere with the reptile's meal.
• The fact is that the jaws and cranial bones of a snake do not grow together, like in other reptiles, but are connected by elastic ligaments. This connection allows the snake to swallow even fairly large animals. In addition, individual jaw bones are able to diverge from each other, which further enlarges the mouth opening.

Slide 5

• A gray tree snake that lives in Uganda, when faced with an enemy, takes a special pose of threat - it inflates the front of the body. She takes exactly the same posture while hunting for sunbirds. And the bird, one might say, just flies into the mouth of the snake. The point is that the bloated top part the body and small muzzle of the snake is very reminiscent of the chick of the sunbird. Here is a small bird and flies up to an impromptu chick, which in fact turns out to be a snake.

Slide 6

• One of the largest snake nurseries was established in 1899 in São Paulo, Brazil by the prominent Brazilian zoologist Vitali Brasil, who at first was an ordinary snake catcher.
• It turned out that the dose of poison rattlesnake deadly for healthy person, harmless to patients with leprosy. They even tried to treat this disease with snake venom... And sometimes this treatment has been effective.

Slide 7

• Some snakes, whose diet consists mainly of eggs, have developed special adaptations for breaking the shell.
• These are special transverse, enameled processes on the anterior thoracic vertebrae that run downward and forward. The snake swallows the whole egg, and then the shell is crushed against these processes. The contents of the egg through the esophagus enter the stomach, and the snake "spits out" the empty shell through the mouth.

Slide 8

• The California Zoo was home to a unique double-headed king snake... This is the result of a genetic mutation. This occurs periodically, although rarely, in nature.
• Have gabon viper the longest poisonous teeth in the world - they can reach 5 cm. This allows the snake to inject poison very deep into the victim's body.

Slide 9

• The fastest snake in the world is the black mamba. For short distances, it can reach speeds of up to 16 km / h. The disturbed mamba raises its head and opens its mouth. It may well be the first to attack, so this snake is worth being wary of!

Slide 10

chameleons

• Chameleons are known to catch insects with lightning speed by throwing out their long tongue... However, as it turned out, the tongue "throw" can occur not only in a straight line, but also with a turn. A chameleon is able to bend the tip of its trapping tool so that an insect lurking in a shelter, for example, behind a leaf, sticks to it.

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• Reptiles, or reptiles (Reptilia) - predominantly terrestrial vertebrates, including modern, beak-headed, amphisbene, etc. Together with amphibians in the XVIII - XIX centuries they united in a group of reptiles - cold-blooded terrestrial vertebrates.

• Reptiles occupy an intermediate position in terms of organization between amphibians (), on the one hand, and mammals, on the other.

• Reptiles are in many ways more similar to birds than to mammals.

• There are about 9400 known species of reptiles in the world.

• 74 species of reptiles live on the territory of Russia.

• Reptiles flourished during the Mesozoic era, when they dominated the sea, land and air.

• Most of the reptiles became extinct millions of years ago - at the end of the Cretaceous.

• Modern reptiles are only scattered remnants of that world.

• Reptiles are the first true land animals.

• Unlike in which the larvae breathe with gills and usually live in water (in some, the gills persist all their lives), reptiles breathe only with the lungs.

• Due to the presence of a shell in turtles, the ribs are immobile, so they have developed a different way of ventilation than other reptiles. Turtles drive air into the lungs by swallowing it or pumping up the front legs.

• Like amphibians, reptiles are cold-blooded, i.e. their body temperature depends on the environment. But reptiles have learned to partially control it, hiding from hypothermia or overheating. For instance, hibernation allows you to avoid cold weather, and night activity - daytime heat.

• All reptiles have tough, dry skin that is covered in scales. Its main function is to protect the body from drying out.

• Such tough skin interferes with growth. Therefore, molting is inherent in almost all reptiles. Snakes and lizards shed their skin quite often. Crocodiles do not. Their skin can grow with their body.

• The largest of the existing lizards is.

• Reptiles carry large eggs covered with a dense shell.

• The muscular system in reptiles is better developed than in amphibians.

• Many reptiles live in very dry places, so it is extremely important for them to retain water in the body. Through the skin, they lose almost as much moisture as birds and mammals. In mammals, a high respiration rate leads to a large evaporation from the surface of the lungs, while in reptiles, the respiration rate is much lower, and accordingly, water loss through the lung tissue is minimal.

• There are reptiles that absolutely need clean water... These are caimans - representatives of the Crocodile squad. For this reason, the area of ​​their distribution is rather small.

• Of all reptiles, they spend most of their time in the water, going out on land only to lay eggs or warm themselves.

• Reptiles are found all over the world, but are especially numerous in warm areas and are practically absent in cold areas outside the distribution of woody vegetation.

• The most highly organized reptiles are crocodiles.

• Crocodiles are among the largest modern reptiles.

• Usually in reptiles the limbs are widely spaced. Crocodiles are the only reptile, when they move quickly, they put their legs under the body, and when they run, they switch to a gallop, some species are capable of speeds up to 17 km / h.

• The crocodile opens its mouth to cool, and the water evaporates from it; at the same time the small ones peck the stuck pieces of meat and leeches from the crocodile's mouth.

• Diurnal lizards have color vision. This very rare in the animal world.

• Many species of lizards, fleeing from the enemy, are able to discard part of the tail (autotomy).

• In the dark, large eyes gleam in red, in small individuals - green.

• The only place on Earth where alligators and crocodiles coexist is Florida.

• Mississippi alligators are capable of altering the surrounding landscape. Sometimes they live in a swamp. In order to have a lot of standing water, alligators in the swamps dig ponds, loosening and scattering the soil with their hind legs and tail strikes. They constantly cleanse the ponds in which they live, from thick mud and excess vegetation, pushing and carrying it ashore. Willows grow along the banks of the ponds dug by alligators. The roots of the trees bind the soil, forming islets of land in the swamps.

Reptiles are one of the oldest creatures walking on our planet. Extinct dinosaurs, by the way, were also reptiles, and modern lizards and crocodiles are also partly their descendants. However, it is believed that mammals and reptiles once descended from a common ancestor. And how it really was - who knows?

1. In the 18-19 centuries, biologists attributed reptiles and amphibians to general group called "bastards".
2. Reptiles have more in common with birds than any other animal (see).
3. About 9400 species of reptiles live on Earth, of which only 77 are represented on the territory of Russia.
4. The largest land animals in the history of the planet, dinosaurs, are ancient reptiles. Their descendants in modern world, oddly enough, birds became, not reptiles.
5. Most reptiles combine the characteristics of the simplest amphibians and more highly developed vertebrates.
6. Chameleons are well known for their ability to change color depending on the circumstances - stripes and spots can appear and disappear on its body, skin color can quickly change from light yellow to purple and back, and so on. It was believed that this is how chameleons protect themselves from predators, however, scientists have proven that these animals need a color change, first of all, to communicate with their relatives (see).
7. Diurnal reptiles see the world in a yellow-orange spectrum.
8. Many reptiles have a third eye - it is hidden under thin skin and serves as a reptile for orientation in space, determining the intensity sunlight and ley lines magnetic field Earth. Probably, the parietal eye also performs more complex functions, but scientists do not yet know which ones.
9. The eyes of some snakes and lizards are closed with a continuous transparent membrane that replaces the eyelids.
10. Snakes do not have eardrums, so they are very hard of hearing - these reptiles perceive sounds through vibrations of water or earth (see).
11. Turtles feel even the lightest touch on their shell.
12. Although all modern reptiles are cold-blooded animals, tegu lizards have learned to mating season run in your body a special chemical reaction by artificially raising the temperature in the body to attract partners.
13. In Australia, 40 thousand years ago, land crocodiles lived, which did not enter the water at all (see).
14. Most reptiles can only make primitive sounds - for example, hiss or whistle.
15. The most massive snake on the planet is the anaconda, which can be almost 7 meters long. This reptile weighs from 30 to 70 kilograms. At the same time, the longest snake on Earth is recognized reticulated python growing up to 7.5 meters.
16. The length of the chameleon's tongue can be up to 50 centimeters.
17. The skull bones of many snakes are mobile so that their owners can open their mouths extremely wide and swallow large prey.
18. Turtles appeared on Earth earlier than dinosaurs (see).
19. Most reptiles are lousy parents. They do not care about their offspring at all and rely on the independence of the babies born. The only exceptions to this rule are turtles.
20. Crocodiles do not know how to chew - they tear their victims apart, and then swallow the resulting pieces. They even have a special tooth designed to dismember prey.
21. Over the course of their lives, alligators grow more than 3,000 new teeth to replace broken and lost ones.
22. The temperature in the place where the reptile eggs were laid affects the sex of the embryos in them.