Reptiles are often characterized as cold-blooded , emotionless, and dangerous animals. But there is much more to these animals than meets the eye. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals (almost all are), but this does not mean that they are emotionless or incredibly cruel. What happens is that they do not automatically maintain a constant body temperature. In a warm environment, a reptile gets warm from its surroundings, in a cold environment, a reptile will be cold. They need to lie in the sun to keep their body warm. This also means that reptiles do not burn as much energy as we do to keep their bodies warm, so they are not forced to eat as much food as a similarly sized mammal or other warm-blooded animals. In fact, there are some snakes, for example, that can go five or six months between meals.
Most reptiles lay eggs and their skin is covered in hard, dry scales . But there is a wide range of reptiles: the main ones are snakes, crocodiles and alligators, turtles and lizards that we can find on all continents, except Antarctica, because the climate is too cold for them. There are more than 8,000 different species of reptiles. Lizards and snakes constitute the reptile groups with the greatest number of different species.
What is the difference between reptiles and amphibians?
There are important differences that separate reptiles from amphibians. Amphibians, such as frogs, salamanders, or toads, go through a larval stage, like the tadpole that turns into a frog. However, reptiles do not. In addition, their skin is different: reptiles have scales and amphibians have moist, glandular skin.
On October 21, World Reptile Day is celebrated each year, in order to honor and raise awareness about our cold-blooded friends.
Whether you are a faithful admirer of reptiles or simply curious about them, today you will learn a few curious facts that we are sure you will not want to miss.
