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REPTILES – Keith and Michael
Taxonomic
Classification
Unique, Shared
characteristics
within your
phylum
(Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Classes)
Eukarya ,Animalia, Chordata, Reptilia
First Appearance
on Earth
(Era, Period)
What do think allowed your phylum to establish itself?
 Chordates first appeared 530, 000, 000 years ago
 Reptiles first appeared 300,000,000 years ago
 Most ecological niches
 Warm regions
 Deep oceans
 In the air
 Arctic regions
 Arid regions
(diagram(s) could accompany your description)
Ch.54 pg. 1199
 Mostly secondary consumers as fish, birds, reptiles and some are primary
as snakes
Habitat
Part of the food
chain/web/pyramid
Role in the
environment
Adaptations of
homologous
structures within
the phylum
(Structures, organs, body plan etc.)
 Endoskeleton
 Closed circulatory system
 Highly cephalized
 Notochord
 Hollow dorsal nerve cord
 Nerve cord
 pharyngeal slits
 Post-anal tail
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Identifying three
species within the
phylum that are
endangered and why
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Three interesting
facts or trivia you
found
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Vertebrates function as predators and prey in marine, terrestrial, and
freshwater environments
Vertebrates are carnivores, herbivores and insectivores
Invertebrates are marine filter feeders
Snakes have long compressed longs to fit the body
Snakes can stretch out their stomachs to hold food that is wider than the
snake
Some egg eating snakes adapted and lost all its teeth so the snake has bony
projections that come through the esophagus and break the egg.
Panda bear – chopping down of their forests and bamboo trees
Blue whale – pollution of our oceans, and overly aggressive hunting
Tasmanian devil – The arrival of the dingo competing for the same food as
the Tasmanian devil
The smallest chordates are 1cm long
Largest animals that have ever existed are chordates, ie: blue whales,
dinosaurs
We as humans are in the phylum Chordata
For the following, identify how the structures involved in the processes have adapted to
their environment
Reptiles can’t lift their body; instead they crawl using their limbs and tail.
Movement
Food processing
Type of eaters
Respiration
Internal Transport
(Circulatory
system)
Endothermic or
exothermic
Osmoregulation &
Excretion
Sensory system
(central and
peripheral)
Fertilization and
reproduction
Predator Prey
adaptations
Snakes however do not have limbs they use their muscles to crawl on the
ground, or they bunch their body up and throw themselves forward. Snakes
actually walk on the tips of their ribs.
(from ingestion, digestion, absorption, elimination) ch. 41
Snakes do not chew their food, instead they eat their food whole.
The food first enters the esophagus, and into the stomach of the snake, then
the stomach breaks the food down but secreting hydrochloric acid. The food
then goes to the small intestines, and the waste is passed into the large intestine
and then the rectum and it is then excreted out of the body.
However crocodiles may swallow stones to help digest its food, and they have 2
stomachs, one acts like a gizzard, while the other has powerful acids.
(Detritivore, Herbivores, omnivores, carnivores etc.)
Most reptiles are omnivores, however snakes and some other species of reptiles
are carnivores. Turtles are the pre-dominant species of herbivores.
Ch.42
Reptiles have a similar respiratory system compared to ours; they have a
heart, two lungs, and nasal passages.
Snakes however have a trachea, air sac, bronchi, and 2 lungs that are very
long and staggered to help the snake breathe while eating. They have a right
lung and left lung and a tracheal lunch near its head.
Reptiles have a closed circulatory system.
Most reptiles have a three chambered heart composed of two atria and one
ventricle. Reptiles have one pair of aortic arches, but there is some mixing of
oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in the heart.
Crocodiles however have a 4 chambered heart, that is capable of turning into a
3 chambered heart, and snakes have a 3 chambered heart that is able to
become a 4 chamber heart during contraction.
The right and left atria receive blood from the lungs and body, respectively,
and pass it to the ventricle to be circulated again
Pg. 845, 928
Reptiles are exothermic. A reptile maintains its internal temperature by using
exothermic methods of controlling its body temperatures.
Ch. 44 936, 941Excretion is performed by 2 main kidneys. Uric acid is the main waste
product, but turtle’s main product is urea. Since reptile’s kidneys cannot
produce liquid urine more concentrated than their body fluid, their colon help
absorb excess water along with their bladder.
Reptiles have a larger cerebrum and cerebellum than an amphibian brain.
Reptiles also have twelve pairs of cranial nerves, and their spinal cord reaches
down to their tail tip.
Snakes have highly sensitive tongues than can pick up odor particles, and are
sent to the Jacobson’s organ to be chemically analyzed.
In crocodiles the upper and lower jaws are covered with sensory pits which
contain nerve fibers to detect prey.
(could identify some mating behaviours noted in your research)
Most reptiles reproduce sexually, however some can reproduce asexually. All
reproductive activity occurs through the cloacae. Males and females simply
put their cloacas together and the male excretes sperm.
Most reptiles lay eggs in the dirt or ground, or some snakes may give birth to
live young.
Turtles have a hard shell to protect themselves for enemies.
Snakes have venom in their fangs that they inject to prey and enemies, or
excrete a horrible odor.
Crocodiles just bite their enemies, or use their tails for protection. Crocs have
a bite force of 3000 pounds per square inch.