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Learn More About Reptiles
Reptiles are a large and diverse group of vertebrates.  You will find information about reptiles and their characteristics along with information about various types of reptiles and their biology.  Select the links below to learn more!

What are reptiles?
What are reptiles?  What are their characteristics?  Where do they live?  How did they evolve?  Our first objective is to explain what a reptile is and how they are different from other vertebrates.  Most of us know that snakes, lizards, and dinosaurs are reptiles but many forget that turtles and tortoises are also reptiles. [read more]

The Lizard Lounge – The Suborder Sauria
Lizards belong to the Order Squamata, which includes snakes and lizards.  The suborder Sauria refers only to the lizards.  These are by far the most successful modern reptiles with over 4,600 species known to science [read more]

The Serpent’s Den – The Suborder Serpentes
Few animals are as feared by so many and understood by so few.  The simple fact is that snakes are feared because people don’t understand them.  Fear of the unknown is instinctual and uncontrollable. [read more]

A Toothy Grin – The Order Crocodilia
Crocodilians are the second smallest order of reptiles, in number that is.  There are only 23 species in three families.  Of all the reptiles, these are probably the most dangerous. [read more]

The Ancient Ones – The Order Chelonia
Although the dinosaurs capture the imagination of people around the world, turtles and tortoises actually have an ancestry that can be traced back to before the age of the dinosaurs. [read more]

Tuataras - The Order Rhyncocephalia
Tuataras are a reptile that few people have heard about and very few people have ever seen.  Only two species, Sphenodon punctatus and Sphenodon guntheri, exist. [read more]

All photos: J. V. Feltham