Reptiles And Amphibians Flashcards
What are the classification features of reptiles?
Cold blooded
Dry skin
Scaley
Lay hard eggs with leathery case
Lays eggs on land
Breath with lungs
Live on land
What are the classification features of amphibians?
Smooth moist skin (no scales)
Breath with gills then lungs
Lays soft jelly eggs in water
Live on land and in water
What is the word for the progression through lifecycle stages?
Metamorphosis
How do amphibians breath in water?
They can breath in water because of the concentration gradient between their body and the water. They breath through their gills and their skin.
What are some threats to turtles and some amphibians?
Predators, eaten eggs, drowning
What are some adaptations of amphibians?
They can replace their gills with lungs when they want to live on land,
skin that prevents water loss,
some have a tail that disappears in adulthood,
and they can breath through their skin
What are some adaptations of reptiles?
They have scaley skin which conserves moisture in dry areas,
They are camouflaged to hide from predators,
Their skin is made of keratin
What is an endotherm?
An organism that can use internal sources of heat, such as the heat generated by the metabolism of the liver, to maintain its body temperature.
What is an ectotherm?
An organism which relies on external sources of heat to regulate its body temperature.
How do ectotherms regulate their temperature?
Sunbathing and turning their body towards heat and the sun
Move in and out of shade / burrow
Hibernate when it is cold
Slows activity levels when cold
Reptiles change scales color, darker to warm up, lighter to cool down
What is asexual reproduction?
When you have a sex on your own as one parent, the offspring is like a clone so there are no variations
What is sexual reproduction?
When you have sex with another animal (could be a different species, so there could be variations with the offspring (more likely to survive)
How does sex determination depend on temperature?
95% of leatherback turtles are female because females have evolved to be born in warmer temperatures, and because of global warming, less males are being born so they are dying out.
How does climate change affect turtles dying out?
Rising sea levels because of melting ice caps and thermal expansion can drown/flood turtles
Beach erosion means there are less nesting sites because of erosion.
Bad weather also damages egg sites
What is natural selection?
A mechanism which explains how evolution occurs. E.g. it can involve a species changing its coloration. These features enable it to be well adapted to the environment. This improves its fitness (chance of survival)
