Wednesday, June 18th
June's meeting will feature an open discussion on how to maintain your reptiles and amphibians at home as well as our care sheet program. You are welcome to bring your animals to this meeting.
Meetings start promptly at 8pm in the Alumni Room of Medaille College.
Reptile Information
Reptiles as a group are also cold blooded like amphibians. You may also hear the terms poikilothermic or ectothermic. These terms are usually used as synonyms for cold blooded. All of these terms mean that these animals can not regulate their own body temperature like birds and mammals. This means that if it's 85° where the reptile is, then that reptile will have a body temperature of 85° as well.
Most reptiles lay eggs, but unlike amphibians, reptile eggs are laid on land and reptiles have lungs from the very beginning. Reptiles are also covered with scales on their entire body.
There are four major groups of reptiles in the world. The crocodilians consist of alligators, crocodiles, caimans and gavials. Turtles and tortoises make up another large portion of the reptiles on Earth. Lizards and snakes are both closely related and share many characteristics. They are even grouped together by scientists. The final group is the Tuatara which resembles a lizard but has many unique characteristics. Use the menu above to learn more about each group.
Click on the links below to learn more about the different types of reptiles.
Help further herpetology research and education by donating to the Marvin R. Aures Herpetological Grant