reptile
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- Key People:
- Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède
- Related Topics:
- dinosaur lizard snake turtle Crocodylidae
reptile, any member of the class Reptilia, the group of air-breathing vertebrates that have internal fertilization, amniotic development, and epidermal scales covering part or all of their body. The major groups of living reptiles—the turtles (order Testudines), tuatara (order Rhynchocephalia [Sphenodontida]), lizards and snakes (order Squamata), and crocodiles (order Crocodylia, or Crocodilia)—account for over 8,700 species. Birds (class Aves) share a common ancestor with crocodiles in subclass Archosauria and are technically one lineage of reptiles, but they are treated separately (see bird). The extinct reptiles included an even more diverse group of animals that ranged from the marine plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, ...(100 of 17436 words)