Why Do Reptiles Have Scales?: And Other Questions About Evolution and Classification

Why Do Reptiles Have Scales?: And Other Questions About Evolution and Classification — page 1
What is a reptile Reptiles were the first vertebrates to become fully adapted to life on dry land They are cold-blooded animals which means that their body temperature changes according to their surroundings A reptile’s skin is covered with scales made of keratin the same material as our hair and nails Reptiles cannot control their body temperature They bask in the Sun to warm up and move into the shade when they get too hot Ruling reptiles Reptiles evolved more than 300 million years ago from reptile-like amphibians Amphibians have moist skin and breed in water Reptiles developed tough scaly skin and eggs with tough shells so they could move away from the water and spread throughout the world They became so successful that giant reptiles including dinosaurs and pterosaurs ruled the Earth during the Mesozoic era Dinosaurs see box text included the largest animals ever to have walked the Earth 4