Reptile Adaptions Flashcards
List the groups contained with the umbrella term reptile.
Chelonia, Squamata, Tuataras, Crocodillians
How is nitrogenous waste of reptiles excreted ?
Primarily as uric acid, enabling conservation of water
Describe reptile skin composition.
Covered in scales
Acts as barrier to water loss
Few cutaneous glands- no respiration through skin
How do all reptiles respire ?
All have lungs
Ventilation occurs via rib contraction and relaxation
Describe the adaption of the snakes lung
The left lung is reduced or absent
Adaption to long thin body
Turtles cannot use their ribs to ventilate their lungs
How do they breathe ?
The lungs are connected to the visceral muscles that contract
This forces viscera against the lungs to expel air
Other muscles pull the viscera back to expand the lungs
Give the adaption of aquatic turtles that enables them to extract oxygen from water
Adapted mucous membranes lining the mouth
How do sea snakes and soft shelled turtles respire under water ?
Via cutaneous respiration (through the skin)
Retiles are E3ctotherms or Endotherms ?
Ecotherms, require an external source of body warmth
How do reptiles regulate their metabolic heat ?
Basking
Food consumption
Catching prey
List the benefits of Ecothermy
Enables survival on low/ sporadic food input
Low metabolic rate can be related to longevity
List the disadvantages of Ecothermy
Slow reproduction (slow meta.)
Overharvesting can mean rapid extinction
Excluded from cold environments
List 2 species which have evolved for flight
Flying geckos- Webbed feet to increase surface area
Gliding lizards- flaps of skin extend into wings
Why did leglessness evolve ?
Enables movement thought small spaces
Burrowing
Enables coiling
Arboreal lifestyle (spreads weight evenly across branches)
Why is coiling a useful behaviour ?
Can be used as a means of defence, thermoregulation, prey constriction
List the methods of snake locomotion
Lateral undulation
Sidewinding
Concertina
Rectilinear
How does lateral undulation create movement ?
The snake moves left and right, as well as creating posterior moving waves which push against contact points (rocks, twigs)
What is the most common form of snake movement ?
Lateral undulation
Which snake locomotion technique doesn’t involve lateral movement ?
Rectilinear
The snake instead lifts its belly snakes forward before replacing them down
Used by large pythons and boas
Which snake movement is used in tunnels ?
Concertina, the latter half of the body grips the tunnel wall while the anterior stretches
List the 3 adaptions of sea snakes to their aquatic environment
Flattened paddle like tails
Nostrils with water excluding valves
Highly venomous, aposematic colourations
How do geckos walk up walls ?
The tips of their setae release van der waals forces (electrical) which enable them to stick to the substrate
Geckos leave behind a trail of hydrophobic phospholipids,
Why ?
Aid the gecko when walking on moist surfaces
Prevent erosion of setae
All turtles are Oviparous, what does this mean ?
They lay eggs
Describe the life cycle of turtle eggs
Mother excavates nest in sand
No parental care, F leaves
Clutch size from 10 to 100
Embryonic development 40-60 days
Why do turtle eggs hatch simultaneously ?
To prevent a predator waiting by the nest and feeding on them one by one as they hatch
Describe the life cycle of crocodile eggs
Female constructs nest of rotting vegetation- heat
Lay eggs above water, prevent drowning
Female guards eggs till hatch- 65 days
What do crocodile offspring do when they are born ?
Make grunting noises, prompting the female to carry the young to the waters edge
Crocodiles or turtles provide the most parental care ?
Crocodiles
Remain with offspring through development, place them in water and protect them from predation
Most reptiles are carnivorous, state which ones are not.
Some tortoises and iguanas
What is the point of a secondary pallet in a crocodile ?
It is a shelf in the roof of the crocodiles mouth which seperates the nasal and mouth passages
Enables prey to be caught without water entering the respiratory tract
What are dermal pressure receptors ?
In which group of reptiles are they found ?
Crocodilians
Bundles of nerves which respond to disturbances in the water
Enables prey detection
Dermal pressure receptors are similar to what in fish ?
Lateral line
Compare where dermal pressure receptors are found on crocodiles, caimans and alligators
Crocodiles- every scale of body
Caiman and alligators- only on jaws
List organisms which have a Vomeronasal ‘Jacobsons’ organ
Snakes (most pronounced)
Elephants
Turtles
Salamanders
What is the function of the VJ organ in snakes ?
Short-ranging sensing
Snakes tongue collects odour particles and then transfers particles to olfactory chamber
the VJ organ processes these particles
To snakes jaws ever de attach ?
Never, they are permanently hinged
However the jaw has elastic ligments that enables the mouth to spread
Important in food manipulation
What is lizard size restricted by ?
The presence of a pectoral girdle
Do snakes have a size restriction ?
No as have lost the pectoral girdle
Snakes can detect minute changes in the infrared spectrum, True or False ?
True, Enables location of endothermic prey.
Detected via pit organs
List the snakes which can detect prey via infrared spectrum
Pit vipers
Boas
Pythons
Give the functions of venom
Dispatch of large prey
Deterrent
Aid digestion
Where is venom produced and stored ?
Produced by oral glands
Stored in venom gland
How does neurotoxic venom work ?
Causes death due to paralysis of respiratory muscle
How does Haemolytic venom work ?
Breaks down blood cells
Which species have venom ?
Advanced snakes, monitor lizards, iguanas
What is Caudal autotomy ?
A means of predator avoidance
Organism sheds tail when grasped by predator, wriggles creating a distraction, enabling escape
What is the disadvantage of caudal autotomy ?
Reduces escape performance
(speed and stability)
Diverts energy from reproduction into tail regrowth
Reduces male social status
State the molecule that has a key role In reptilian camouflage
Melanin
Give a species which uses mimicry camouflage
Non-venomous milk snakes
Mimic Venomous coral snake
Colouration of reptiles is just to avoid predation
True of False ?
False, used in mate selection.
Chameleons, rapid colour changes to challenge other males and attract females
