Lizard Vs. Reptile
What is the Difference between Lizard and Reptile?
The living beings that inhabit this planet are very diverse; they differ in appearance and in species, mode of feeding, habited, and many other things.
However, from time to time among all the species of animals that surround us some call us more attention than others; for example, there are a large number of people interested in lizards and reptiles.
Difference between Lizard and Reptile
Surely you are also wondering the difference between lizard and reptile right now.
If you still do not know it or just search for a little more information to complement the knowledge you already have,
then continue reading, because below we explain everything you need to know about this interesting topic.
Reptiles
Reptiles are members of the Class: Reptilia, under the Phylum: Chordata, of the Kingdom: Animalia.
Modern reptiles are widely distributed on all continents except Antarctica.
The class: Reptilia are also distributed in sub-groups:
- Testudines (turtles, tortoises and turtles),
- Sphenodontia (tuataras from New Zealand),
- Squamata (lizards, snakes and lizards), and
- Crocodilia (crocodiles, gulls, caimans and alligators).
All reptiles have our members or are descendants of four-member ancestors, e.g., snakes. Reptiles live mainly on the ground, while some may also reside in trees.
Most reproduce by laying eggs, however, some may retain eggs until hatching and others give birth to live youngsters, such as mammals.
All reptiles are cold-blooded, which means they have trouble keeping their body temperature constant and are often based on external sources of heat, such as sunbathing.
The skin of the reptiles is quite thin and has protection by scales or shields.
These sometimes have a bony base that forms a shell.
Top 5 Characteristics of Reptiles
- Reptiles Are Vertebrate Animals with 4 legs.
- Most Reptiles Lay hard shelled Eggs.
- The Reptiles skin have Scutes or Scales.
- Reptiles Have Cold-Blooded Animals.
- All Reptiles respire with the help of Lungs.
Most modern reptiles are carnivores and survive mainly by eating insects, small and medium mammals, and other reptiles.
Some have evolved to survive totally or partially of plants, including, several types of agamas and iguanas.
Currently, turtles make up the only group of predominantly herbivorous reptiles.
Reptiles vary greatly in size and weight. They range from a tiny gecko, which can grow up to 17 mm (0.7 in) to the saltwater crocodile, which can grow up to 6 m in length and weighs more than 2,000 pounds (2,200 lbs).
On the other hand, the lizards are part of the Order: Squamata, of the class: Reptilia.
Therefore, lizards are a type of reptile. They actually make up the largest order in the reptile class.
There are approximately 5,600 different species of lizards. Like all reptiles, lizards are available on all continents except Antarctica.
Most lizards, like most reptiles, are four-membered, cold-blooded, and carnivorous.
In addition to the feet, they also have outer ears, a feature not shared by all reptiles.
Lizards also have a unique feature, called autonomy that allows them to separate their tails to escape predators.
For Further Reading
Vision, including color vision, is particularly well developed in most lizards.
This is because many lizards communicate with body language or bright colors in their bodies.
Finally, lizards can range from a few centimeters like chameleons and geckos to almost 3 m (9.8 feet) in the case of the Komodo dragon.
The Komodo dragon is the largest living varanid lizard to date discovered.
Apart from the Komodo dragon, some of the most commonly known lizards are gecko, chameleon, iguanas, horned lizards.
There are also lizards without legs, which look like snakes. They share a common ancestry with lizards.
Are lizard’s reptiles yes or no?
Reptiles are vertebrates that have some scales on their body they are leathery and lay eggs such as lizards, snakes, turtles, crocodilians, and even birds are reptiles
