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What Is a Reptile?

Today there are 6,800 reptile species on earth; the major groups are alligators and crocodiles, turtles, lizards, and snakes. All reptiles are cold-blooded, which is why they warm themselves in the sun, and have bodies covered in dry, horny scales. Some reptiles lay eggs; others give birth to live young.

• Reptile Anatomy
• Reptile Defense
• Reptile Diet
• Reptile Subspecies and Races
• Beware: Venomous Reptiles

Name	Type
American Alligator	Crocodilians
American Crocodile	Crocodilians
Spectacled Caiman	Crocodilians
Broad-headed Skink	Lizards
Brown Anole	Lizards
Chuckwalla	Lizards
Coal Skink	Lizards
Collared Lizard	Lizards
Common Checkered Whiptail	Lizards
Common Sagebrush Lizard	Lizards
Common Side-blotched Lizard	Lizards
Desert Horned Lizard	Lizards
Desert Iguana	Lizards
Desert Spiny Lizard	Lizards
Eastern Fence Lizard	Lizards
Eastern Glass Lizard	Lizards
Five-lined Skink	Lizards
Gila Monster	Lizards
Gilbert's Skink	Lizards
Great Plains Skink	Lizards
Greater Earless Lizard	Lizards
Greater Short-horned Lizard	Lizards
Green Anole	Lizards
Ground Skink	Lizards
Lesser Earless Lizard	Lizards
Long-nosed Leopard Lizard	Lizards
Many-lined Skink	Lizards
Mediterranean Gecko	Lizards
Northern Alligator Lizard	Lizards
Ornate Tree Lizard	Lizards
Round-tailed Horned Lizard	Lizards
Six-lined Racerunner	Lizards
Slender Glass Lizard	Lizards
Sonoran Desert Fringe-toed Lizard	Lizards
Southern Alligator Lizard	Lizards
Texas Horned Lizard	Lizards
Tiger Whiptail	Lizards
Western Banded Gecko	Lizards
Western Fence Lizard	Lizards
Western Skink	Lizards
Zebra-tailed Lizard	Lizards
Black Rat Snake	Snakes
Brown Water Snake	Snakes
Bullsnake	Snakes
Checkered Garter Snake	Snakes
Common Garter Snake	Snakes
Common Kingsnake	Snakes
Copperhead	Snakes
Corn Snake	Snakes
Cottonmouth	Snakes
DeKay's Brown Snake	Snakes
Diamondback Water Snake	Snakes
Eastern Coachwhip	Snakes
Eastern Coral Snake	Snakes
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake	Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snake	Snakes
Eastern Indigo Snake	Snakes
Eastern Ribbon Snake	Snakes
Glossy Snake	Snakes
Green Rat Snake	Snakes
Kirtland's Snake	Snakes
Lined Snake	Snakes
Long-nosed Snake	Snakes
Massasauga	Snakes
Mississippi Green Water Snake	Snakes
Mud Snake	Snakes
Night Snake	Snakes
Northern Black Racer	Snakes
Northern Water Snake	Snakes
Pine Woods Snake	Snakes
Plain-bellied Water Snake	Snakes
Plains Garter Snake	Snakes
Pygmy Rattlesnake	Snakes
Queen Snake	Snakes
Red-bellied Snake	Snakes
Ringneck Snake	Snakes
Rough Green Snake	Snakes
Rubber Boa	Snakes
Scarlet Snake	Snakes
Smooth Green Snake	Snakes
Southeastern Crowned Snake	Snakes
Southern Hognose Snake	Snakes
Southern Water Snake	Snakes
Striped Racer	Snakes
Timber Rattlesnake	Snakes
Western Blind Snake	Snakes
Western Coral Snake	Snakes
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake	Snakes
Western Hognose Snake	Snakes
Western Lyre Snake	Snakes
Western Patch-nosed Snake	Snakes
Western Ribbon Snake	Snakes
Western Shovel-nosed Snake	Snakes
Western Terrestrial Garter Snake	Snakes
Western Worm Snake	Snakes
Alligator Snapping Turtle	Turtles
Atlantic Ridley	Turtles
Blanding's Turtle	Turtles
Bog Turtle	Turtles
Chicken Turtle	Turtles
Common Map Turtle	Turtles
Common Musk Turtle	Turtles
Desert Tortoise	Turtles
Eastern Box Turtle	Turtles
Eastern Mud Turtle	Turtles
Eastern Painted Turtle	Turtles
Eastern Red-bellied Turtle	Turtles
False Map Turtle	Turtles
Florida Softshell	Turtles
Gopher Tortoise	Turtles
Green Turtle	Turtles
Hawksbill	Turtles
Leatherback	Turtles
Loggerhead	Turtles
Loggerhead Musk Turtle	Turtles
Northern Diamondback Terrapin	Turtles
Ornate Box Turtle	Turtles
Red-eared Slider	Turtles
River Cooter	Turtles
Snapping Turtle	Turtles
Spiny Softshell	Turtles
Spotted Turtle	Turtles
Western Pond Turtle	Turtles
Wood Turtle	Turtles
Yellow Mud Turtle	Turtles

Most reptiles and amphibians... have lungs for breathing are cold-blooded give birth to young hatched from eggs

Reptiles and amphibians are "cold-blooded." This doesn't mean they have cold blood, but that they don't produce their own heat like mammals.

They need to get heat from the sun to warm themselves. That's why you might see one lounging on a log near a pond or marsh.

So what's the difference between reptiles and amphibians?

have dry, rough, scaly skin lay their eggs on or under dry ground begin their life cycle on land	have moist, smooth skin without scales lay eggs in water or in damp areas begin their life cycle in water and then, as adults, their bodies change to adapt to life on dry land