I.
Order Testudines =
Turtles & Tortoises
 Shell
- Carapace (dorsal)
- Plastron (ventral)
- Ribs and vertebrae fused to shell
 No teeth, but strong jaw with horny plates
 Poor hearing
 good sense of smell and color vision
 Reproduction – bury eggs, sex of offspring
depends on temp. (also in some
lizards)
Box turtle
Green turtle
Emerging hatchling
Turtle hatchling
Snapping turtle
Sea turtle
Alligator snapping turtle (no turtle soup today bubba!)
Note: Be sure to see Bob at the Denver Zoo,
in Tropical Discovery!!!
Turtle & friend
Galapagos turtle
Galapagos turtle
Turtle abuse
Tortoise
African spurred tortoise
Leopard tortoise
Mojave desert tortoise
Note : In the U.S, a turtle lives near water,
whereas a tortoise may live far from water.
II. Order Squamata =Lizards, Snakes
 Kinetic jaw
 Scales different on ventral surface
(scutes)

Lizards, Suborder Sauria
 slender body
 external ear
 four limbs (usually)
Madagascar Gecko
Leopard Gecko
Gecko eating corn snake
Hawaiian Gecko
Leaf Chameleon
Chameleon and potential prey
Canopy Chameleon
Chameleon
Four-horned Chameleon
Chameleons can focus each eye on a different target
(eyes focus independent of one another)
African Chameleon
*Chameleons are capable of excellent, rapid camouflage
Camouflage
Green Anole
Tuataras are the last dinosaur-like lizards on earth…
Tuatara
Male & Female tuataras
Horned “toad”
Horned toad
Chinese Water Dragon
Frilled lizard
Frilled lizard
Jesus Christ / Basilisk Lizard
Can run bi-pedally on water or land
Green Iguana
Marine Iguana
Pile o’ Marine Iguanas
Iguanas are some of the few vegetarian lizards.
Gila Monster
If it bites you, it pumps venom into you until you
remove it from your flesh.
Mexican Beaded Lizard
Komodo Dragon
Bacteria in its saliva are very likely to cause death.
Snakes, Suborder Serpentes
- elongate body
- no limbs (came from lizards, lost legs)
- no middle ear, feel vibrations through the jaw
- forked tongue, protrusible
- reduced left tubular lung or only one
 Jacobsen’s organ = “taste air “ to find
prey
 Pit vipers – pit organs (infra-red
detectors) for finding prey
 Many have venom - neurotoxic or
hemorrhagic
Garter snake
Coral Snake
CoralSnake
Milk Snake
Red on black, friend of Jack. Red on yellow, kills a fellow.
Corn snake
Copper head
Bushmaster
Giant Anaconda of the Amazon
Diamondback rattlesnake
Water moccasin
King Cobra
King Cobra
Black mamba
Black mamba
Green mamba
Boa constrictor
Reticulated python
Does this picture bother you as much as it does me????
Sea snake
Sea snake
snake vs electric fence
Note: breathing tube in bottom of mouth
III. Order
Crocodilia Crocodiles and Alligators
 Extremely OLD group
 4 heart chambers
 skull elongate and massive jaws
teeth in sockets
 Four limbs (5 fore, 4 hind digits)
 Advanced social behaviors
 Oviparous
 Parental care –
 Make nests
 Carry young in mouth
Alligator
Gator & her mom
Crocodile
Crocodile
Caiman
Caiman
Gavial
Gavial