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| List the common characteristics of snakes, turtles, and other reptiles. | Dry, scaly skin, lungs, terrestrial eggs with several membranes. These are important, as they permit reptiles to live their lives out of water. |
| What is the advantage of the reptile's body covering? | It helps prevent loss of body water in dry environments. |
| What's the disadvantage of a reptiles scaly covering? | It doesn't grow with the reptile, so it must be shed periodically. |
| In what area on Earth are reptiles NOT found? | They do not live in very cold areas. |
| The first reptile fossil was dated to which period? | It was during the Carboniferous Period. |
| What era was the age of Reptiles? | It was the Mesozoic Era. |
| What were the two major groups of dinosaurs? | 1) the Ornithischia ("bird-hipped" dinosaurs) and 2) Saurischia ("lizard-hipped" dinosaurs) |
| What happened at the end of the Cretaceous Period? | There was a mass extinction caused by a dramatic series of natural disasters. |
| What natural disasters occurred at the end of the Cretaceous Period? | Massive volcanic eruptions and lava flows, dropping of the sea level, a huge asteroid or comet smashed into the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. |
| What adaptations have contributed to the successful existence of reptiles on land? | Besides their tough, scaly skin, well-developed lungs, a double-loop circulatory system, a water-conserving excretory system, strong limbs, internal fertilization, and shelled, terrestrial eggs. They also can control body temperature by moving to a different place. |
| What are ectotherms? | They're animals that rely on behavior to help control body temperatures (see pg. 800). |
| What do reptiles eat? | 1) some are herbivores; some are carnivores; most eat insects. (see 800) |
| Why do reptiles have spongy lungs? | This provides more gas-exchange area than most amphibians. |
| How do many reptiles exhale? | They have muscles around their ribs that expand the hest cavity to inhale and collapse the caity to force the air out. |
| Most reptiles have 2 lungs; what is an exception? | Some species of snakes have only one lung. |
| What purposes do the two-loop circulatory system in reptiles serve? | 1) one brings blood to and from the lungs; 2) the other brings blood to and from the rest of the body. |
| Describe the reptile heart. | It has 2 atria and 1 or 2 ventricles. Most have a single ventricle with a partial septum separating oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood during the pumping cycle. |
| Which reptiles have the most developed hearts? | Crocodiles and alligators have 2 atria and 2 ventricles. |
| What are the 2 methods used by reptiles to expel urine? | 1) I can flow directly into a cloaca; 2) OR a urinary bladder stores urine before it is expelled from the cloaca. (see 801 for details) |
| Compare a reptile's brain to that of an amphibian. | They are similar, except reptiles have larger derebrums and cerebellums. (for other details, see 801) |
| How do reptiles move? | They move on legs; legs & feet of many aquatic turtles have developed into flippers. |
| Why are the legs of some reptiles rotated further under the body? | This enables them to carry more body weight. |
| How do reptiles reproduce? | The male deposits sperm inside the body of the female. |
| Define "oviparous". | This means laying eggs that develop outside the mother's body. |
| What is an amniotic egg? | It's an egg made up of a shell and membranes that create a protected environment in which the embryo can develop out of the water. |
| Name the 4 parts of the amniotic egg. | It has an amnion (1 of 4 membranes surrounding the developing embryo); the yoke sac, the chorion, and allantaois. (see diagram 803) |
| What are the 4 groups of reptiles surviving after the dinosaurs disappeared? | Lizards and snakes, crocodilians, turtles and tortoises, and tuatara. |
| What are the 4 orders of existing reptiles? Name an example of each of the 4 types. | 1) Squamata include lizards and snakes; 2) Crocodilia include aligators, crocodiles, caimans (relative of alligator), and gavial; 3) Testudines including turtles and tortoises; 4) Spehenodonta: a tuatara (picture on pg. 804). (see 804-5 for details) |
