Exploring the World of Reptiles and Amphibians

416 Pages·2009·132.56 MB·English

by  Jen Green

Exploring thE
world of rEptilEs
And AMphiBiAns
Copyright © 2009 The Brown Reference Group plc Project Editor: Sarah Eason
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced Picture Researcher: Maria Joannou
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Chelsea House
An imprint of Infobase Publishing Consultant Editor
132 West 31st Street John P. Friel, Ph.D.
New York, NY 10001 Curator of Fishes, Amphibians and Reptiles
Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ithaca, New York
Green, Jen. Authors
Exploring the world of reptiles and amphibians / authors, Jen Green; Richard Spilsbury; Barbara Taylor
Jen Green, Richard Spilsbury, Barbara Taylor.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60413-256-4 (hardover)
ISBN 978-1-4381-2543-5 (e-book)
1. Reptiles—Encyclopedias, Juvenile. 2. Amphibians—
Encyclopedias, Juvenile. I. Green, Jen. II. Spilsbury, Richard,
1963- III. Taylor, Barbara, 1954- IV. Title.
QL644.2.G737 2009
597.9—dc22
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For The Brown Reference Group plc
ContEnts
Introducing reptiles and amphibians 8
Reptile and amphibian family tree 10
Adder 12
African sand snakes 16
Alligator snapping turtle 18
Alligators 22
American alligator 24
American bullfrog 28
Anaconda 30
Armadillo lizard 34
Asian horned frog 36
Australian toadlets 38
Australian water-holding frog 42
Axolotl 44
Blind snakes 46
Blue-tongued skink 48
Boas 5 2
Bush squeaker 56
Bushveld rain frog 58
Caecilians 60
Caiman lizard 64
Caimans 66
Cane toad 68
Cape skink 72
Chameleons 74
Clawed toads 80
Cobras 82
Common frog 86
Common toad 88
Congo eels 90
Copperhead 92
Coral snakes 94
Crocodiles 98
darwin’s frog 102
dragon lizards 104
Eastern box turtle 108
Eastern newt 11 0
Edible frog 11 2
Eyed lizard 11 4
file snakes 11 6
fire salamander 11 8
fire-bellied toads 122
flying frogs 124
flying lizards 126
Frogs and toads 128
galápagos giant tortoise 134
garden lizard 138
garter snakes 140
Geckos 144
gharial 148
ghost frogs 150
giant galliwasps 1 5 2
giant plated lizard 1 5 4
giant salamanders 156
glass frogs 162
glass lizards 164
golden-tailed gecko 166
44
grass snake 168
great south American river turtle 1 72
green iguana 1 74
green toad 1 76
green tree python 1 78
green turtle 1 82
harlequin toads 1 84
hellbender 186
horned lizards 1 88
house snakes 1 92
Iguanas 1 94
indian cobra 1 98
Jungle racer 200
Komodo dragon 202
Kuhl’s flying gecko 206
leaf frogs 208
leatherback turtle 21 2
leopard gecko 21 4
leopard tortoise 21 6
Lizards 21 8
loggerhead turtle 2 24
Malaysian tree toad 2 26
Mambas 2 28
Mantellas 2 30
Marine iguana 2 32
Matamata 2 36
Mexican burrowing frog 238
Midwife toads 240
Milksnake 242
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Monitor lizards 246
Monkey-tailed skink 250
Mudpuppy 254
namaqua chameleon 256
natterjack toad 258
Newts 260
night lizards 264
olm 266
painted turtle 268
panther chameleon 270
pipe snakes 272
plumed basilisk 276
poison dart frogs 278
puff adder 284
Pythons 286
rain frog 290
ratsnakes 294
Rattlesnakes 296
red salamander 302
reticulated python 304
rough-skinned newt 306
Salamanders 308
saltwater crocodile 31 4
sand lizards 31 6
sandfish 31 8
Sea snakes and sea kraits 320
sharp-ribbed newt 326
sidewinder 328
sirens 330
66
Skinks 332
slimy salamander 336
slow worm 338
smooth newt 340
Snakes 344
spadefoot toad 350
spotted turtle 352
surinam toad 354
tegu 356
terciopelo 358
thorny devil 362
tiger salamander 364
tokay gecko 366
tomato frog 368
Tortoises 370
treefrogs 374
tuatara 378
Turtles 380
Vipers 384
Viviparous lizard 388
wall lizards 390
water frogs 394
whiptails 398
worm lizards 402
xenosaurs 406
Glossary 41 0
Further resources 41 3
Picture Credits 41 4
77
introdUCing rEptilEs
And AMphiBiAns
Reptiles are some of the most feared animals on of amphibians start their lives as eggs in the water.
this planet. But only a few species are so deadly the eggs hatch as tiny larvae, which breathe in the
that they could kill someone. Most would rather run water using gills. through an amazing transformation
or slither away. what unites them all is that they are called metamorphosis, these aquatic larvae become
all cold-blooded creatures with scaly skin, which they land-dwelling adults that breathe air through their
shed to grow and replace worn-out skin. reptiles lungs. Most amphibians also have the ability to
cannot regulate their own body temperature, so they breathe through their smooth, moist skin.
bask in the sunlight to warm up. Most reptiles lay
eggs on the land, but a few species keep the eggs when you read books or surf the internet to
inside their bodies and then give birth to live young. find information about reptiles and amphibians you
with the exception of the crocodilians, most reptiles might come across the word herpetology. scientists
do not care for their young. often use this word to describe the study of reptiles
and amphibians. herpetology comes from the greek
like the reptiles, amphibians are cold-blooded word herpeton, meaning “creeping animal.”
animals. they are the link between animals that live
in water and those that live on land. the majority
Exploring the World of Reptiles and Amphibians
From adders to xenosaurs, these six volumes of read or web sites to visit; and a volume-specific index.
Exploring reptiles and Amphibians contain more Volume 6 contains a complete set index.
than one hundred articles that look at the amazing
world of reptiles and amphibians. some of the articles within each article you will find a fact file box,
focus on a single species, such as the indian cobra which summarizes the main features of the reptile
or Komodo dragon. others talk about larger groups or amphibian. it provides information about the
of reptiles or amphibians, such as lizards, snakes, or breeding habits, coloration, diet, size, and status of
turtles. these overview articles are highlighted in bold a reptile or amphibian. other items include did You
typeface within the table of contents for each volume. Know? boxes, which highlight some amazing facts
about specific reptiles and amphibians, and box
Each volume has a number of useful features, features that take a closer look at one interesting
such as a family tree, which shows how reptiles and aspect of the creature in question. throughout the
amphibians fit into the animal kingdom, how they book, large, colorful photographs and illustrations
are related to one another, and provides cross increase the reader’s enjoyment and understanding
references to articles in this set; a glossary of terms of the world of reptiles and amphibians.
used throughout the set; a further resources page,
which includes information about good books to
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Family ties
FROGS AND
CROCODILIANS
Above each fact file in every article tOADS
there is a color bar that highlights
in which particular group the reptile or
amphibian belongs. there are four main
SNAKES AND NEWtS AND
groups of reptiles: crocodilians; snakes and LIZARDS SALAMANDERS
lizards; turtles, terrapins, and tortoises; and
tuataras. so there are four color codes for the
reptiles. Amphibians are divided into three
tuRtLES,
main groups: frogs and toads; newts and tERRApINS, CAECILIANS
tORtOISES
salamanders; and the wormlike caecilians.
so there are three color codes for the
amphibians. Just look at the color code to
figure out in which group the animal belongs. tuAtARAS
World Conservation Union (IUCN) Classifying reptiles
and amphibians
the world Conservation Union (iUCn) is the largest
and most important conservation organization in the scientists like to group reptiles and
world. it aims to protect the natural world by promoting amphibians into categories in which
the conservation of animals and plants that are threatened all the animals share certain body
with extinction. A living creature may be placed in one features. this is called classification.
of the following categories in the IUCN Red List of Animals that share body features are
Threatened Species: likely to be closely related because
they have similar genes, which are the
Extinct—there is no reasonable doubt that the last instructions found inside cells that
member of the species has died tell the animal what to do. the family
tree overleaf shows the relationships
Extinct in the wild—the species survives only in captivity,
between all the different reptiles and
in cultivation, or as a population well outside its past range
amphibians. All the reptiles belong
Critically endangered—facing an extremely high risk of to the class reptilia, while all the
extinction in the wild different amphibians belong to the
Endangered—facing a very high risk of extinction class Amphibia. scientists divided
in the wild each class into several large groups,
called orders, which contain more
Vulnerable—facing a high risk of extinction in the wild
closely related reptiles or amphibians.
Near threatened—likely to qualify for a threatened
in turn, each order comprises smaller
category in the near future
groups called families. families
Least concern—is not threatened contain genus groups, which are
Data deficient—there is not enough information collections of species—the smallest
available to make an assessment family unit. reptiles or amphibians
belonging to the same species can
the iUCn status for the reptiles and amphibians in this book breed to produce offspring.
is highlighted at the foot of the fact file panel in every entry.
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