Category Zoology

Some reptiles are good parents, others are not. Some lay their eggs under rocks and logs, while others carefully build nests. Turtles deposit their eggs in nests that are usually holes dug in the sand. The American alligator lays her eggs in a cavity that she creates within a pile of material. She closes the cavity by lying down on top of the eggs. The female king Cobra makes a nest from plant materials. She gathers leaves, bamboo stalks and sand into a pile, using the coils of her body. She then makes a chamber in the middle of this pile and lays her eggs in it.

Turtles don’t take much care of their eggs, but the American alligator is a good parent. The female guards her eggs, and defends the clutch from predators. Some species of pythons coil around their eggs protectively and incubate them by raising the temperature of their bodies. The Nile crocodile carries her eggs to the water when they are about to hatch, rolling each egg against the roof of her mouth to crack the shell. The little crocodile is then released in the water, and the mother remains nearby to see that it comes to no harm.

 Most eggs of reptiles are spherical or elliptical in shape. Some have soft, flexible shells; others have leathery shells, while some have hard shells like those of birds. The baby is cushioned inside the egg in a bag of fluid. The oxygen and moisture necessary for growth is absorbed through the shell, while the yolk provides nourishment for the young.

 Reptiles usually lay their eggs in sand, soil, humus, or rotting logs. The number may vary between two or three at a time, and a hundred at one go! Some reptiles, like the female Indian python, look after the eggs with devotion. Others, like lizards, ignore the eggs once they are laid! When it is time for the baby reptile to hatch, it emerges from the shell in different ways. Baby snakes cut their way out of the shell using a special tooth. Baby turtles and crocodiles have a horny projection at the tip of their snout that helps them to break out of the shell.

 The fact that reptiles do not need water to lay their eggs is one of the main reasons, why reptiles were able to overtake the amphibians, and rule the planet for a very long time. 

 Snakes and lizards constantly flick their tongues out of their mouths. Have you ever wondered why? They actually taste the air for particles of chemicals that are present all around us. These particles are then transferred to a special organ that these reptiles have on the roof of their mouths called the Jacobson’s organ. This organ helps the reptile to partly smell and partly taste the particles, so as to detect prey, a mate or an enemy. 

 Have you seen a snake charmer? Even if you haven’t, you must have heard how snake charmers hypnotize their snakes and make them dance to the plaintive tunes that the snake charmers play on their pipes. The truth is that the snake is not dancing at all. It is responding to the movement of the pipe, and sways as it prepares to attack.

 Reptiles can see, hear and smell like other vertebrates…yet they are quite extraordinary in some ways. For example, snakes and some lizards smell with their flickering tongues and a small organ located in the roof of their mouths, which is called Jacobson’s Organ. Some snakes are sensitive to infra red rays, which helps them to ‘see’ their prey even in total darkness. Marine turtles are able to travel vast distances by sensing magnetic fields. Generally speaking, the senses of vision and smell are well-developed in most reptiles, while their sense of hearing is poorly developed and they ‘hear’ by sensing the vibrations in the Earth.

We know that a reptile is an animal that has dry, scaly skin and breathes by means of its lungs. We also know that reptiles are cold blooded. But did you know that reptiles first appeared on earth some 340 million years ago, during an age known as the Carboniferous Period on earth? The very first reptiles looked some-what like the lizards that you see today, and scientists say that they evolved from amphibians.

 The first reptiles were small and quite overshadowed by the huge amphibians that lived during those times. However, during the Carboniferous Period, drier conditions prevailed on earth and reptiles had an advantage over the amphibians who needed water to lay their eggs. Reptiles adapted much better than amphibians to the new conditions on the planet, and as a result, they began dominate the Earth.

The Age after the Carboniferous Period, the Mesozoic Period is known as the Age of the Reptiles, for this was the time when they ruled the earth. Different types of reptiles existed during this time. When the first flying reptiles appeared, some of the other reptiles returned to the seas and lakes, while the dinosaurs remained to dominate the land.