Zoo Reptiles Reptiles

Reptiles • Reptiles are ectothermic vertebrates • Reptiles are covered in scales Zoo Reptiles • Reptiles breathe with lungs • First group to have the amniotic egg which must be laid on land; aquatic species must come ashore to deposit them • Most reptiles lay eggs; some reptiles, like the boa constrictor, give birth to live young Corallus caninus Order Chelonia Order Chelonia Red-eared Slider Red-Footed Tortoise • Native to the southeastern • Found in southern Central America US and northern Mexico; and throughout much of South America in dry forest areas, found in still warm water grasslands and savannas • Most commonly traded turtle • Primarily herbivorous but may eat in the world carrion and snails, worms and • Young are carnivorous; adults insects eat mainly aquatic plants • They are the most popular pet tortoise in the U.S. • Out compete native sliders • Not currently endangered and pond turtles and can sometimes wipe out native invertebrates that they feast Chelonoidis carbonaria on as young turtles Trachemys scripta elegans • Found in the Children’s Zoo Order Chelonia Order Chelonia Eastern Box Turtle Western Pond Turtle • Native to eastern parts of the • Found in Puget Sound area through United states in deciduous the pacific coast states into Baja, forests and mixed forests California in slow moving water • The eastern box turtle is the • They are California’s only native official state reptile of both freshwater turtle species North Carolina and Tennessee • Omnivorous; only swallow food under water; not understood why • They are opportunistic omnivores • During winter, turtles hibernate in mud at the bottom of ponds, or • Carapace is high and domed buried on land in duff Terrapene carolina carolina • Box turtles are able to • The biggest threat to the species is Actinemys marmorata completely close their shells. the bullfrog • Males have red irises, while • Zoo involved in conservation efforts females normally have brown • Found in the Lion House 1 Order Chelonia Order Chelonia Desert Tortoise Radiated Tortoise • Found in the Mojave and • Found in Southern Madagascar in Sonoran deserts of SW United dry forests and scrubland States and NW Mexico • Herbivorous • The California state reptile, this • Critically Endangered due to medium sized tortoise has a habitat loss, bushmeat and pet highly domed shell trade. • It has powerful, shovel-like • The Chinese will pay $50 for a front limbs for digging to ! radiated tortoise to eat. They are escape the heat also believed to have aphrodisiac • Herbivorous; will eat cactus Astrochelys radiata properties. Gopherus agassizi agassizii • It is considered a vulnerable • The radiated tortoise's shell has species due to habitat blood vessels and nerves so, like destruction, the pet trade and a other tortoises, it can feel when it respiratory disease called is being touched mycosis Order Chelonia Order Squamata Leopard Tortoise Green Anaconda • Found in Central to South Africa in semi- • Found in the northern part of arid, thorny scrub to savannas South America in still waters • Crepuscular • Diet of grasses and vegetation (fruits, • Adapted to water, the eyes cactus, succulents) but will also eat old and nostrils are positioned on bones for calcium the top of the head • Important seed dispersers; seeds pass • Nocturnal intact through the digestive tract • Get a lot of water from diet but also • Hunts capybaras, deer, and store water in large anal sacs in their other mammals, caimans, Stigmochelys pardalis abdominal cavities. and sometimes other snakes • Lack of food and water may lead to Eunectes murinus • ovoviviparous, bearing 20-40 aestiviation during hot, rain-free live young summers. • Second largest tortoise native to Africa. Order Squamata Order Squamata Emerald Tree Boa Amazon Tree Boa • Found in wet lowland areas of • Found in tropical rainforest of tropical rainforests of the northwestern and eastern South Amazon basin of S. America America • Nocturnal non-venomous, • Nocturnal, arboreal, constrictor arboreal constrictors • Aggressive with quick defensive • Common posture is coiled strikes and a long reach with head in middle (photo) • Prehensile tail; ambush hunters • Thermal receptor pits that • Infrared sensitive receptors for they use to sense prey finding prey at night • Prehensile tail used to secure • Nictitating membrane: located by Corallus caninus Corallus hortulanus in tree, especially when eye shine at night ingesting food • Live births. Babies are orangish in color 2 Order Squamata Order Squamata Red Tailed Boa San Francisco Garter Snake • Found in northern Mexico, • Endemic to San Mateo County through Central America into • Utilizes a wide variety of South America in trees or on habitats, preferring grasslands ground near water or wetlands near ponds, • Nocturnal, nonvenomous marshes and sloughs. May constrictor overwinter in upland areas • Lack heat-sensitive scales to away from water. locate prey • A slender multi-colored • Remnants of hind legs: pelvic subspecies of the common spurs garter snake Boa constrictor • Ovoviviparous • California red-legged frog is a main part of its diet • Effective camouflage for ! jungle and forests • Endangered species Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia Order Squamata Order Squamata Komodo Dragon Caiman Lizard • Largest living lizard • Found in northern parts of • Found on four volcanic Indonesian South America in swampy islands of the Lesser Sunda group in habitats dry open grassland, savanna and tropical forest at low elevations • Adapted to aquatic lifestyle • Carnivorous diet; eats mostly • Specialize in eating snails. Diet carrion. They ambush prey and also includes crawfish, and deliver venomous bites. fresh water clams • Forked tongue use to smell and • Forked tongue use to smell locate prey; has Jacobson’s organ and locate prey Varanus komodoensis • Solitary • Young komodos spend first few Dracaena guianensis years in trees safe from • Often bask on branches canniballism. overhanging the water • Solitary except to breed and eat Order Squamata Order Squamata Plumed Basilisk Honduran Spiny Tailed Iguana Female top, Male bottom • Found in Central America: • Found in eastern Guatamala Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and in rocky terrain of dry forest Panama. They spend most of their and thorn scrub time in trees but are not far from • Uses spiky tail to defend itself water • Parietal eye – light-sensing • Male has three crests; female has organ one crest • Primarily herbivore • Males very territorial • Keystone species: plays • Primarily carnivorous important role in seed • Known for their ability to run along dispersal of a type of cactus water and its eggs are food source • Lay several clutches of eggs per year for other threatened lizard • Endangered Basiliscus plumifrons Ctenosaura palearis 3 Order Squamata Common Chuckwalla • Found Mojave and Sonoran deserts in lava flows and rocky areas • Primarily herbivorous but will have occasional insects • When frightened, crawls into small crevice and inflates its body • Males mark territory by use of femoral pores on inner thighs • Capable of autotomy; can Sauromalus ater break off and grow new tail to evade predators • Not threatened 4.

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