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What Are Ten Reptiles?

Reptiles originated in Carboniferous period swamps more than 300 million years ago. In the following Permian period they became the dominant quadruped life form. In the Mesozoic era, known as the Age of the Reptiles, the animals evolved into gigantic dinosaurs. In the early 21st century there are about 6,800 extant species belonging to the class Reptilia.

Dinosaurs
- Tyrannosaurus rex was a large carnivorous theropod reptile that lived during the late Cretaceous period 85 million to 65 million years ago. The bipedal animals grew to be more than 40 feet long, 18 feet tall and could weigh up to six tons. T. rex's name means "tyrant lizard king." The 70- to 90-foot-long Apatosaurus, meaning deceptive lizard, used to be called the Brontosaurus, which means thunder lizard. The sauropod herbivore swallowed stones to grind up the plant materials in its stomach.
Crocodilia
- Two crocodilian species of reptiles live in the United States. Alligator mississippiensis, or the American alligator, is the most familiar. American alligators live from North Carolina to Florida and may be found in Texas and Arkansas. The reptiles can grow to almost 19 feet long. Crocodylus acutus, or the American crocodile, is a rare reptile that lives in the Everglades and in Biscayne Bay at Florida's southern tip. The scaly animals can grow up to 15 feet long.
Turtles
- The alligator snapping turtle is one of the world's largest freshwater turtles. It can weigh more than 150 pounds with a carapace shell more than 25 inches long. The giant reptiles live along the Mississippi River and in the lakes and rivers of the southern United States. The stinkpot turtle, or Sternotherus odoratus, is also known as the common musk turtle. It squirts out a smelly fluid when disturbed. The 8- to 10-lb. desert tortoise is a terrestrial reptile living in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts of California, Nevada and Arizona.
Snakes
- The 4-foot-long California king snake inhabits the deserts, woodlands and grasslands of the southwestern United States. It feeds on both warm-blooded and cold-blooded prey. Poisonous copperheads are 2.5 to 4.3 feet long and members of the Viperidae family. They live in the wooded areas and meadows of southern New England and south to Alabama. The black colored, venomous cottonmouth is also called the water moccasin or swamp adder. It can reach 6 feet in length and prefers to live in ponds, swamps, marshes and other watercourses.

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