Reptiles, WHA-YIN

Turtles, tuatara, lizards and snakes, and crocodiles make up the major groups of living reptiles today, and they collectively account for over 8,700 species. Plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and dinosaurs are part of the diverse group of now-extinct reptiles that were once found on Earth but that we are now unlikely to encounter.
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Reptiles Encyclopedia Articles By Title

What Do Turtles Eat?
Turtles’ diets vary based on their species and where they live. Many turtles are herbivorous, and mainly live off......
What Eats Snakes?
Although snakes are predators, they are also themselves eaten by other creatures, making them secondary consumers......
What Happened to the Dinosaurs?
One day 66 million years ago, an asteroid the size of a mountain struck near the Yucatán Peninsula with an explosive......
What’s the Difference Between a Turtle and a Tortoise?
What is a tortoise anyway? Is it just a fancy way to say “turtle”? Well, actually, there’s a meaningful difference......
What’s the Difference Between Alligators and Crocodiles?
Don’t know a gator from a crocodile? You’re probably not alone. Although these large reptiles belong to different......
Why Are People Afraid of Snakes?
People are often afraid of snakes because of a combination of factors—ranging from the fear of venomous bites to......
Why Are Pterodactyls Not Dinosaurs?
No matter how much you like pterodactyls, you’ll want to think twice before telling someone that they’re your favorite......
Why Are Turtles So Slow?
The slow pace at which turtles move through life is primarily due to their unique anatomy and evolutionary adaptations.......
Why Do Snakes Shed Their Skin?
As snakes grow, their skin does not grow with them. Instead, they periodically shed their outer layer of skin to......
Why Do Turtles Live For So Long?
Turtles are known for their long lifespans, with some species such as the Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)......
Why Does -saur Appear So Often in Dinosaur Names?
The suffix -saurus, which appears at the end of the scientific names of various dinosaurs (and in shortened form......
wolf snake
wolf snake, any of a number of nonvenomous members of the family Colubridae, named for large teeth in both jaws.......
wood turtle
wood turtle, (Clemmys insculpta), a woodland streamside turtle of the family Emydidae, found from Nova Scotia through......
worm snake
worm snake, any of various harmless burrowing snakes of wormlike appearance. This name is often given to blind......
Yinlong
Yinlong, ceratopsian dinosaur genus known from a single nearly complete skeleton taken from the Junggar Basin of......

Reptiles Encyclopedia Articles By Title