What is HERPETOLOGY?
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles. It deals with their behaviors, geographic ranges, physiologies, development, genetics, and more.
Today, scientists classify reptiles into four major groups known as "orders." These four reptile orders are as follows:
The amphibians can be divided into three main orders. Each having its own species. The orders are as follows:
Today, scientists classify reptiles into four major groups known as "orders." These four reptile orders are as follows:
- Crocodilia — crocodiles, gharials, caimans and alligators: 23 species
- Sphenodontia — tuataras from New Zealand: 2 species
- Squamata — lizards, snakes and amphisbaenids ("worm-lizards"): about 7,900 species
- Testudines — turtles and tortoises: approximately 300 species
The amphibians can be divided into three main orders. Each having its own species. The orders are as follows:
- Anura - frogs and toads: 4,500 species
- Caudata - salamanders and newts: 50 species
- Gymnophiona - caecilians: 500 species
| What is a Herpetologist and How can I become one? by Gibbons, J.W. & Dorcas, M.E., 2014, The Journal of North American Herpetology |
Definition of reptile:
Definition of amphibian:
- any of a class (Reptilia) of cold-blooded, air-breathing, usually egg-laying vertebrates that include the alligators and crocodiles, lizards, snakes, turtles, and extinct related forms (such as dinosaurs and pterosaurs) and that have a body typically covered with scales or bony plates and a bony skeleton with a single occipital condyle, a distinct quadrate bone usually immovably articulated with the skull, and ribs attached to the sternum
Definition of amphibian:
- any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Amphibia, comprising frogs and toads, newts and salamanders, and caecilians, the larvae being typically aquatic, breathing by gills, and the adults being typically semiterrestrial, breathing by lungs and through the moist, glandular skin.