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List Of Reptiles
Reptiles are tetrapod animals in the class Reptilia, comprising today's turtles, crocodilians, snakes, amphisbaenians, lizards, tuatara, and their extinct relatives. The study of these traditional reptile orders, historically combined with that of modern amphibians, is called herpetology. The following list of reptiles lists the vertebrate class of reptiles by family, spanning two subclasses. ''Reptile'' here is taken in its traditional (paraphyletic) sense, and thus birds are not included (although birds are considered reptiles in the cladistic sense). Subclass Anapsida Order Testudines – turtles *Suborder Cryptodira :*Family Chelydridae – common snapping turtles and alligator snapping turtle :*Family Emydidae – pond turtles and box turtles :*Family Testudinidae – tortoises :*Family Geoemydidae – Asian river turtles and allies :*Family Carettochelyidae – pignose turtles :*Family Trionychidae – softshell turtles :*Family Dermatemydidae – river turtles :*Fam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family ( la, familia, plural ') is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for describing or recognizing a family, but in plants, they can be characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Taxonomists often take different positions about descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for some time. The publishing of new data and opi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Box Turtles
Box turtle is the common name for several species of turtle. It may refer to those of the genus '' Cuora'' or '' Pyxidea'', which are the Asian box turtles, or more commonly to species of the genus '' Terrapene'', the North American box turtles. They are largely characterized by having a shell shaped like a dome, which is hinged at the bottom, allowing the animal to close its shell tightly to escape predators. Furthermore, the two genera are very different in habitat, behavior and appearance, and are not even classified in the same family. Even though box turtles became very popular pets, their needs in captivity are complex and the capture of turtles can have serious detrimental effects on the wild population. The box turtle commonly lives over twenty years, with verified cases of lifespans exceeding 40 to 50 years. There have been unverified cases of box turtles living for a hundred years and more. Diet Box turtles are omnivorous. Their eagle eyes and keen sense of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pond Turtles
Emydidae ( Latin ''emys'' (freshwater tortoise) + Ancient Greek εἶδος (''eîdos'', “appearance, resemblance”)) is a family of testudines (turtles) that includes close to 50 species in 10 genera. Members of this family are commonly called terrapins, pond turtles, or marsh turtles. Several species of Asian box turtles were formerly classified in the family; however, revised taxonomy has separated them to a different family (Geoemydidae). As currently defined, the Emydidae are entirely a Western Hemisphere family, with the exception of two species of pond turtle. Description The upper shell (carapace) of most emydids is the shape of a low arch, although in some species, it is domed. The upper shell may have one or two ridges that run from front to the back of the animal (a projection commonly called a "keel"), or such a feature may be absent. A prominent bridge often connects the top shell to the bottom shell ( plastron). Emydids have large bottom shells, and som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emydidae
Emydidae (Latin ''emys'' (freshwater tortoise) + Ancient Greek εἶδος (''eîdos'', “appearance, resemblance”)) is a family of testudines (turtles) that includes close to 50 species in 10 genera. Members of this family are commonly called terrapins, pond turtles, or marsh turtles. Several species of Asian box turtles were formerly classified in the family; however, revised taxonomy has separated them to a different family ( Geoemydidae). As currently defined, the Emydidae are entirely a Western Hemisphere family, with the exception of two species of pond turtle. Description The upper shell (carapace) of most emydids is the shape of a low arch, although in some species, it is domed. The upper shell may have one or two ridges that run from front to the back of the animal (a projection commonly called a "keel"), or such a feature may be absent. A prominent bridge often connects the top shell to the bottom shell ( plastron). Emydids have large bottom shells, and some me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alligator Snapping Turtle
The alligator snapping turtle (''Macrochelys temminckii'') is a large species of turtle in the family Chelydridae. The species is native to freshwater habitats in the United States. ''M. temminckii'' is one of the heaviest freshwater turtles in the world. It is the largest freshwater species of turtle in North America. It is often associated with, but not closely related to, the common snapping turtle, which is in the genus ''Chelydra''. The specific epithet ''temminckii'' is in honor of Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. Taxonomy Although it was once believed that only one extant species exists in the genus ''Macrochelys'', recent studies have shown that there are two species, the other being the Suwannee snapping turtle (''M. suwanniensis'') of the Suwannee River. A third species, the Apalachicola snapping turtle (''M. apalachicolae''), has been proposed, but is generally not recognized. The alligator snapping turtle is given its common name because of its immen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Snapping Turtle
The common snapping turtle (''Chelydra serpentina'') is a species of large freshwater turtle in the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia and Florida. The three species of '' Chelydra'' and the larger alligator snapping turtles (genus '' Macrochelys'') are the only extant chelydrids, a family now restricted to the Americas. The common snapping turtle, as its name implies, is the most widespread. The common snapping turtle is noted for its combative disposition when out of the water with its powerful beak-like jaws, and highly mobile head and neck (hence the specific epithet ''serpentina'', meaning "snake-like"). In water, it is likely to flee and hide underwater in sediment. The common snapping turtle has a life-history strategy characterized by high and variable mortality of embryos and hatchlings, delayed sexual maturity, extended adult longevity, and iteroparity (repea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chelydridae
The Chelydridae is a family of turtles that has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are the snapping turtles, ''Chelydra'' and ''Macrochelys''. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere. The extinct genera are ''Acherontemys'', ''Chelydrops'', ''Chelydropsis'', ''Emarginachelys'', ''Macrocephalochelys'', ''Planiplastron'', and ''Protochelydra''. Fossil history The Chelydridae have a long fossil history, with extinct species reported from North America as well as all over Asia and Europe, far outside their present range. The earliest described chelydrid is ''Emarginachelys cretacea'', known from well-preserved fossils from the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous of Montana. Another well-preserved fossil chelydrid is the Late Paleocene ''Protochelydra zangerli'' from North Dakota. The carapace of ''P. zangerli'' is higher-domed than that of the recent ''Chelydra'', a trait conjectured to be associated with the coexistence of large, turtle-eating crocodil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptodira
The Cryptodira ('' el, hidden neck'') are a suborder of Testudines that includes most living tortoises and turtles. Cryptodira differ from Pleurodira (side-necked turtles) in that they lower their necks and pull the heads straight back into the shells, instead of folding their necks sideways along the body under the shells' marginals. They include among their species freshwater turtles, snapping turtles, tortoises, softshell turtles, and sea turtles. Neck retraction The Cryptodira are characterized by retraction of the head in the vertical plane, which permits for primarily vertical movements and restricted lateral movements outside of the shell. These motions are largely due to the morphology and arrangement of cervical vertebrae. In all recent turtles, the cervical column consists of nine joints and eight vertebrae. Compared to the narrow vertebrae and the closely positioned zygapophyses of the pleurodires, the cryptodires’ vertebrae take on the opposite shape. Their c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Testudines
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked turtles), which differ in the way the head retracts. There are 360 living and recently extinct species of turtles, including land-dwelling tortoises and freshwater terrapins. They are found on most continents, some islands and, in the case of sea turtles, much of the ocean. Like other amniotes (reptiles, birds, and mammals) they breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water. Turtle shells are made mostly of bone; the upper part is the domed carapace, while the underside is the flatter plastron or belly-plate. Its outer surface is covered in scales made of keratin, the material of hair, horns, and claws. The carapace bones develop from ribs that grow sideways and develop into broad flat plates t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anapsida
An anapsid is an amniote whose skull lacks one or more skull openings (fenestra, or fossae) near the temples. Traditionally, the Anapsida are the most primitive subclass of amniotes, the ancestral stock from which Synapsida and Diapsida evolved, making anapsids paraphyletic. It is however doubtful that all anapsids lack temporal fenestra as a primitive trait, and that all the groups traditionally seen as anapsids truly lacked fenestra. Anapsids and the turtles While "anapsid reptiles" or "anapsida" were traditionally spoken of as if they were a monophyletic group, it has been suggested that several groups of reptiles that had anapsid skulls might be only distantly related. Scientists still debate the exact relationship between the basal (original) reptiles that first appeared in the late Carboniferous, the various Permian reptiles that had anapsid skulls, and the Testudines (turtles, tortoises, and terrapins). However, it was later suggested that the anapsid-like turtle skull i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladistics
Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived characteristics ( synapomorphies'')'' that are not present in more distant groups and ancestors. However, from an empirical perspective, common ancestors are inferences based on a cladistic hypothesis of relationships of taxa whose character states can be observed. Theoretically, a last common ancestor and all its descendants constitute a (minimal) clade. Importantly, all descendants stay in their overarching ancestral clade. For example, if the terms ''worms'' or ''fishes'' were used within a ''strict'' cladistic framework, these terms would include humans. Many of these terms are normally used paraphyletically, outside of cladistics, e.g. as a ' grade', which are fruitless to precisely delineate, especially when including extinct species. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
