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Reptile Facts:
The world of reptiles is large and varied which can lead to many interesting facts about reptiles. Here we aim to tell you about some of the lesser know facts about reptiles.
.: There are 8,240 species of reptiles in the world, inhabiting every continent except Antarctica.
.: Hundreds of millions of years ago, amphibians became the first vertebrates to live on land.
.: Lizards and snakes have a single sheet of overlapping scales. Other reptiles grow plates (separate areas of scales). The main function of the skin is to keep water in the animal's body. Reptiles can go without water for long periods, and many species thrive in deserts.
.: Reptiles, like birds, have voluntary control over the muscles in their eyes, which determine their pupil size. This means that they are able to constrict or dilate their pupils at will, not just in response to light.
.: If a gecko is attacked, it can distract an enemy by waving its tail. When the enemy attacks the tail, the tail breaks off but keeps wriggling. While the enemy holds the tail, the gecko runs away. It soon grows a new tail.
.: Is a snail a reptile? No, a snail is a mollusk. A mollusk can be described as an invertebrate animal (an animal without a backbone), with a soft body usually enclosed in a shell. Other mollusks are clams and squid.
.: Most snakes swallow their prey alive. However, poisonous snakes generally wait for their venom to kill an animal before they swallow it.
.: The brain of a reptile is not more than 1 percent of his body mass. This means that the brain of a 70-pound python is no larger than a lima bean. Unlike amphibians, however, the reptilian brain has two hemispheres. Since man appears to use very little of his brain mass, the reptilian brain appears to be highly and efficiently adapted. The nervous systems of reptiles are sufficiently complex and similar to those of mammals that we can conclude that their senses and pain perception are highly refined. We are only beginning to understand just how highly specialized these animals are.
.: Were dinosaurs reptiles? No, they were dinosaurs. In fact, it is thought that dinosaurs eventually evolved into birds. Many dinosaurs, if not most, were thought to be warm-blooded, and reptiles are cold-blooded.
.: The worlds longest snake was a reticulated python that was 32 feet 9 1/2 inches long.
.: The smallest lizard in the world is the rare, tiny gecko of the Virgin Islands. Only 15 specimens have ever been found. They measure 0.70 inches from snout to vent.
.: The worlds fastest reptile (measured on land) is the spiny-tailed iguana of Costa Rica. It has been clocked at 21.7mph
.: The snake that is responsible for the most deaths of humans is the saw-scaled or carpet viper. It resides from West Africa to India.
