Post by cat001 on Feb 12, 2015 12:29:29 GMT
I will start by saying that I’ve not always loved reptiles, when I was little I was rather disinterested in them, I wasn’t repulsed by them as others seemed to be though (and couldn’t really understand that reaction as I just saw animals as different individuals with the same goal in life, wrapped up in different forms. I wouldn’t hate one breed of animal over another so why hate one species over another was my thinking). It was only until my sister came home with a hatchling snake one day that I really started to interact with reptiles. The more I interacted with her the more I learnt about her, I learnt how trusting she was of people having been handled frequently and that she could learn whom she has had good and bad experiences with. She had a working mind and wasn’t unthinking and pure instinct after-all. I learnt how engaging and communicative she was. She’d observe me and learn the best way to tell me when she was hungry or wanted to come out. Reaching my hand out to her she’d know to climb up and she would make her way to her favourite place, inside some-ones sleeve where she’d coil up and go to sleep. Fast-forward 11 years I now have more snakes and leopard geckos too. With my experiences with them I’ve further learnt how much of an individual each reptile is, they all have their own unique personalities, their own little quirks and preferences, their own set of behaviours and routines. I love how bold and adventurous some reptilian individuals can be, and how another of the same species can be so lazy and relaxed, or shy but friendly. They really are individuals just like any other animal.
The natural history of reptiles itself is fascinating stuff! For instance, crocodilians are more closely related to birds than they are to other reptiles. This is because early on during reptile evolution, during the Permian, a group of early reptiles split into two lineages; the archosaurs (ancestors of the crocodiles and dinosaurs) and the lepidosaurs (predecessors of modern tuataras, lizards and snakes). Dinosaurs later gave rise to the evolution of such creatures as the archaeopteryx, the ancestor of modern day birds. Another point of interest is that many dinosaurs were feathered (including the famous velociraptor and t-rex, evidence also suggests they were not cold or warm blooded but were somewhere in between). In modern day, crocodiles and birds are still classified as archosaurs, they are the only extant animals from this group.
The tuatara is the oldest of the lepidosaurs and is considered a living fossil as it has remained unchanged for millions of years. The tuatara may look like a lizard but snakes are more closely related to lizards than the tuatara. The ancestors of snakes where creatures similar to skinks with long bodies and fairly short legs to aid them with swimming through sand or soil. Legs become a hindrance in such a terrain so over time the legs were reduced and the body elongated until the shape of a snake was formed. This process has occurred independently within the lizard family too (legless lizards), but these legless lizards are still true lizards and don’t share many of the characteristics unique to snakes such as lack of eyelids, no external ear and a highly mobile mandible. The Turtles are the most ancient of the reptiles and are the only modern day reptiles to have conquered the seas.
From the ancient reptiles also came the ancestor of mammals, the Dimetrodon. This creature may have looked reptilian but it was more closely related to mammals than to reptiles. We are an off-shoot of reptiles as birds are, and it is the extreme ability of the reptiles to adapt and evolve that gave rise to much of the life on earth. Within the lizard family alone there are an estimated 6000 species living today, many of these species are incredibly diverse with some unique and amazing adaptations (such as the basilisk that runs on water, also known as the Jesus lizard, or the chameleons with their ability to change colours, the flying lizards of Borneo with their ability to glide using wing-like skin flaps or the Giant Toad Headed Agama with its unique oral display frills). The sheer diversity found in reptiles is truly astonishing, but sadly many of these unique creatures are on the front line of the current biodiversity crises (along with amphibians who are particularly vulnerable). The threat of extinction is particularly sad for amphibians as they were the first life on land, descended from ancient lung-fish and the first to walk on land. They’ve been around far far before dinosaurs ever showed their faces and survived through to modern day. Reptiles and amphibians are our connections to our ancient ancestors, our cousins in a way, it would be a tragedy to lose them.
I spend much of my time learning about the herptiles and grow an ever-increasing appreciation for them, I find them fascinating, unique and important, both as pioneers of life on earth and as functional members of the many ecosystems on this planet. These are some of the reasons why I love reptiles (and amphibians too!)
The natural history of reptiles itself is fascinating stuff! For instance, crocodilians are more closely related to birds than they are to other reptiles. This is because early on during reptile evolution, during the Permian, a group of early reptiles split into two lineages; the archosaurs (ancestors of the crocodiles and dinosaurs) and the lepidosaurs (predecessors of modern tuataras, lizards and snakes). Dinosaurs later gave rise to the evolution of such creatures as the archaeopteryx, the ancestor of modern day birds. Another point of interest is that many dinosaurs were feathered (including the famous velociraptor and t-rex, evidence also suggests they were not cold or warm blooded but were somewhere in between). In modern day, crocodiles and birds are still classified as archosaurs, they are the only extant animals from this group.
The tuatara is the oldest of the lepidosaurs and is considered a living fossil as it has remained unchanged for millions of years. The tuatara may look like a lizard but snakes are more closely related to lizards than the tuatara. The ancestors of snakes where creatures similar to skinks with long bodies and fairly short legs to aid them with swimming through sand or soil. Legs become a hindrance in such a terrain so over time the legs were reduced and the body elongated until the shape of a snake was formed. This process has occurred independently within the lizard family too (legless lizards), but these legless lizards are still true lizards and don’t share many of the characteristics unique to snakes such as lack of eyelids, no external ear and a highly mobile mandible. The Turtles are the most ancient of the reptiles and are the only modern day reptiles to have conquered the seas.
From the ancient reptiles also came the ancestor of mammals, the Dimetrodon. This creature may have looked reptilian but it was more closely related to mammals than to reptiles. We are an off-shoot of reptiles as birds are, and it is the extreme ability of the reptiles to adapt and evolve that gave rise to much of the life on earth. Within the lizard family alone there are an estimated 6000 species living today, many of these species are incredibly diverse with some unique and amazing adaptations (such as the basilisk that runs on water, also known as the Jesus lizard, or the chameleons with their ability to change colours, the flying lizards of Borneo with their ability to glide using wing-like skin flaps or the Giant Toad Headed Agama with its unique oral display frills). The sheer diversity found in reptiles is truly astonishing, but sadly many of these unique creatures are on the front line of the current biodiversity crises (along with amphibians who are particularly vulnerable). The threat of extinction is particularly sad for amphibians as they were the first life on land, descended from ancient lung-fish and the first to walk on land. They’ve been around far far before dinosaurs ever showed their faces and survived through to modern day. Reptiles and amphibians are our connections to our ancient ancestors, our cousins in a way, it would be a tragedy to lose them.
I spend much of my time learning about the herptiles and grow an ever-increasing appreciation for them, I find them fascinating, unique and important, both as pioneers of life on earth and as functional members of the many ecosystems on this planet. These are some of the reasons why I love reptiles (and amphibians too!)