Snakes and Lizards: Squamata - Physical Characteristics, Habitat, Diet, Behavior And Reproduction, Conservation Status - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, SQUAMATES AND PEOPLE
Besides the Arctic, Antarctic, and other very cold places, squamates live almost the world over.
For the most part, squamates either freeze or flee when humans approach. If a person comes too close, however, many will bite. Fortunately, most species are not venomous, and the bite only serves to surprise the person rather than hurt him or her. Some snakes, and two species of lizards, are venomous. The lizards are the Gila monster and the Mexican beaded lizard. Usually, quick medical attention can treat squamate bites.
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The 7,200 species of snakes, lizards, and wormlizards all fall under the order Squamata and are therefore known as squamates (SKWAH-mates). Perhaps the most noticeable difference between the snakes and the lizards are the legs, or the lack of them. Most lizards, except for a few species, have working legs. Snakes are legless. The most noticeable feature of the worm lizards is their earthworm-like …
Squamates can live in many habitats, from the dry conditions in the desert to the wet and warm rainforests. Many of them, including numerous lizards and snakes, live above ground on land. Some, such as the wormlizards, are fossorial (foss-OR-ee-ul), which means that they remain underground most of the time. Others, including many snakes, are arboreal (ar-BOR-ee-ul), which means that they often liv…
Most of the squamates eat other animals. Many of the lizards and the smaller snake species eat insects or other invertebrates (in-VER-teh-brehts), which are animals without backbones. Even some of the medium-sized snakes eat invertebrates. Eastern garter snakes, for example, like to dine on earthworms. A large number of the medium- to large-sized snakes, however, eat other snakes, lizards, frogs a…
Because they are ectothermic (ek-toe-THERM-ik), which means that their body temperature changes based on the outside temperature, many squamates sunbathe, or bask, to warm up. Others, however, stay out of sight during the day. Some of the fossorial species rarely come out of the ground at all. These species will sometimes increase their body temperatures by moving to a warmer underground spot. For…
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists 265 species as being at risk or as already extinct, which means they are no longer in existence. Of these, 14 are Extinct, 36 are Critically Endangered, and 31 are Endangered. Critically Endangered means the species faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Endangered means the species faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild. Many of…
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