Page 31 - One Million Things: Animal Life - The Incredible Visual Guide
P. 31
Flying gecko
1 CROCODILIANS 4 NONVENOMOUS SNAKES 7 WORM LIZARDS
These large, ferocious predators include Many snakes do not use venom. These wormlike reptiles live in hotter
crocodiles and alligators. They wait in Constrictors, such as corn snakes and parts of the world. Most have no limbs,
rivers and lakes, then use their powerful pythons, grab their quarry using sharp and all burrow underground, pushing
jaws and sharp teeth to grab and drown teeth, then wrap themselves around it through soil or sand using their Skin along the sides of
unwary animals. Their eyes and nostrils and squeeze ever tighter until the blunt-shaped heads. Worm lizards have the body spreads out
are set on top of the head so they can animal suffocates. Then, like all snakes, fairly simple eyes and feed on insects to allow lizard to glide
see and breathe while in the water. they swallow their victim whole. and worms that they find by touch.
Puff adder
Brown and yellow markings
2 LIZARDS 5 TURTLES AND TORTOISES camouflage the puff adder
in its grassland habitat
More than half of the 8,000 reptile species The bodies of these reptiles are
are lizards. Most are agile, fast-moving protected by a hard shell. Turtles
hunters. They include geckos, skinks, live in the sea and fresh water, while
chameleons, slow worms, tortoises live on land. All lay their
the Komodo eggs on land, with marine species
dragon, and the migrating across oceans to do so.
venomous Gila They lack teeth but their jaws have
monster. sharp edges to cut food.
Common
3 VENOMOUS 6 TUATARAS iguana
SNAKES These burrowing reptiles are found
All snakes are carnivorous, and on islands off New Zealand, the sole
around one-tenth, including adders, survivors of an ancient group related
cobras, and rattlesnakes, immobilize to snakes and lizards. They are
prey by injecting venom, or poison, nocturnal and can live for
through special teeth called fangs. more than 100 years.
Plumed basilisk lizard
Forked tongue
“tastes” chemical
particles in the air
Skink
Thorny devil Sharp, protective Gila monster
spines collect
water at night Green tree python
As the snake
strikes, hollow Rattlesnake
fangs swing
forward to
Slowworm
inject venom
Venom ejected from
cobra’s mouth can
blind an attacker
Tuatara
Madagascar day gecko
Red spitting cobra
6
Long tongue
used to lick
Worm lizard 7 lidless eye clean 29
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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