The family of Ages – Reptilia – Erakina

 A Reptile climbing a tree

Reptilia or Reptiles are a species of animal that has skin composed of drought and roughness. The species origin began from the Carboniferous period of 310-320 million years ago. The first reptile that lived is the Hylonomus, with a length of 20-25 cm long. The types of Reptiles are Lizard(Lacertilia), Snake(Serpentes), Turtles(Testudines), Crocodiles(Crocodylidae), Alligators, and Iguanas. 

Dinosaurs are considered Reptiles but they have warm-blooded and don’t have the characteristics of modern reptiles. The word Reptile means Crawling vertebrates. Every member of reptiles has the same functions of breathing air with internal fertilization, toughness in the skin, and amniotic development. Some Reptiles are useful in Pest control locally in Agriculture. 

Life Cycle:

Lifecycle of a Turtle

The Reptiles are suitable to create their habitat in a heated environment. Their life cycle begins with laying Eggs and the process of hatching and reaching the adolescents. They begin their life as embryos in amniotic eggs. These eggs are larger than the others because of the amniotic membrane, which nourishes the child inside the egg. Most reptiles lay their eggs underground for hatching and some reptiles keep them inside for the hatching. The mothers use a tool called egg tooth which is sharp and straight which is used to tear the shells for the little one to crawl through.

When the hatching process comes to an end the little ones break through their egg and they stay in there for 12 to 48 hours and defend themselves. The toddler takes time to become an adult of their species. The little and the adult species look the same but they don’t possess the internal Metamorphosis.

The mature Reptiles reproduce sexually. When the male is mated to the female it can carry the sperm and use it in the future for reproduction and bury the eggs. As per the routine, they wait for the hatching period to end to see their little born toddler.

The life span of the Reptiles differs. For example, a Corn snake can live 6-8 years. Whereas a Desert Turtle can live 80 years or more.

Characteristics of Reptiles:

Like the slow Turtle to quick Cobra and the sticky Lizard on a wall, everyone has their unique skills. Let us see the Characteristics of Reptiles.

1. Reptile skin has Scale and it doesn’t have any hairy substance. The Scally skin protects them from dryness.
2. They most have short legs and swing their back from side to side to talk.
3. Most Reptiles have Three chambered Hearts. But Alligators and crocodiles have Four chambered hearts like Birds.
4. Reptiles are cold-Blooded animals and use their surroundings to keep them warm. Due to cold-Blooded, they don’t need more energy to survive than others.
5. Reptiles are Vertebrates like Birds, Mammals, and Amphibians. But they don’t share Reptile characteristics.

The Defense mechanism of each Reptile is fascinating. At first, Reptile doesn’t hurt anyone on purpose. If they sense any harm from their predators they first warn them with their actions. But the predators advance towards dominance over Reptile they use their Defense mechanism and escape the trouble. Reptiles like Cobra or venomous snakes attack them. But others use trickery to fool the enemy and run. Like Chameleon changing the body color, Autotomy the trick of cutting the tail and making them wiggle to confuse the predators and run. Playing dead and releasing a smell to make it real, etc. 

Extinction:

The great family of Reptiles is not like other species to get extinct. But due to the natural disasters, some of the kind reptiles had extincted. The Rodrigues Giant Tortoise is a 25-pound weighing which was located in the sides of the Indian Ocean was hunted to extinction by humans. Martinique Giant Ameiva is an 18-inch long lizard in America was gone extinct due to the hurricane that destroyed their habitat. Some Reptiles went extinct because of the vanishment of their prey and some of the reasons are still unknown. We people might have been under the control of their Species if they aren’t extinct(Dinosaurs).

By-Mukesh Kumar U M

Date: 05/01/2022