LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Reptiles
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Reptiles are a class of the chordate phylum. They have scaly skin and feet with claws on their toes. Both the babies and the adults breathe through lungs. They have a breastbone called a sternum to protect the heart and lungs. The female's eggs are fertilized in her body by the male. The eggs are laid in a shell that has a leathery covering to protect it in the wilds.
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Reptiles are poikilothermic, which means that they can not regulate heat internally (as opposed to birds and mammals which are homeothermic). However, the name "cold blooded" is a misnomer, because reptiles can maintain high body temperatures by relying on external sources of heat. Reptiles bask in the sun to increase their body temperature or hide in their burrows or in water to cool down. At northern latitudes, during cold periods, reptiles are dormant from a few days to several months, their body processes slowed until temperatures increase.
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Reptiles are cold-blooded. That is, they lack the ability to regulate their metabolic heat (heat derived from the oxidation, or "burning," of food and from other processes) for the production of sustained body warmth and a constant body temperature. Cold-bloodedness... does not mean that a reptile is necessarily cold. A lizard basking in the Sun may have a higher body temperature than a mammal but must move into the shade to keep from overheating. Because cold-bloodedness is a misleading term, biologists employ two others instead, describing reptiles as poikilothermic and ectothermic. Poikilothermy refers to the condition in which body temperature varies with the temperature of the environment; it is contrasted with homeothermy, a characteristic of birds and mammals, in which body temperature remains essentially the same through a wide range of environmental temperatures.
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Reptiles evolved from labyrinthodont amphibians 300 million years ago. The success of this terrestrial vertebrate group is due in large part to the evolution of shelled, large-yolked eggs in which the embryo has an independent water supply. This advance, as well as the development of internal fertilization, enabled reptiles to be the first vertebrates to sever their ties with water. They radiated out across the landscape, diversifying quickly and becoming the dominant life form on the planet during the Mesozoic Era, otherwise known as the age of the reptiles.
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Reptiles have been around for a long time. They are believed to have evolved from amphibians and have developed several adaptations for life out of water. Reptiles range in size from the green anole (5 to 8 inches) to the crocodile (23 feet). Reptiles can ... live in habitats ranging from swamps to deserts. This great diversity among reptiles is one of the reasons they have managed to survive.
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The Division of Amphibians & Reptiles is open by appointment only during regular business hours. Visitors must call or e-mail the Collection Manager (Tom Giermakowski) in advance (505-277-5130) or email tomas 'at' unm.edu to arrange a date and time for using the collection.
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Reptiles