Reptiles

Cold-blooded animals with scales or scutes that breathe air, such as turtles, snakes, lizards and crocodiles.

Subcategories

🐢 Turtles and Tortoises (8)🐍 Snakes (7)🦎 Lizards (4)

19 entries

A large African spurred tortoise walking across green grass.

African Spurred TortoiseCentrochelys sulcata (also called Geochelone sulcata)The largest mainland African tortoise, a burrowing plant-eater of the dry lands south of the Sahara, also called the sulcata tortoise.

An alligator snapping turtle with a ridged, spiky shell resting on grass.

Alligator Snapping TurtleMacrochelys temminckiiThe largest freshwater turtle in the United States, which lures fish into its open jaws with a worm-like bit on its tongue.

An orange and red corn snake with dark-edged blotches coiled on grass.

Corn SnakePantherophis guttatusA harmless orange-and-red constrictor of the eastern United States, also called the red rat snake, with a belly like Flint corn.

A diamondback terrapin with a patterned shell and spotted gray skin walking on grass.

Diamondback TerrapinMalaclemys terrapinA colorful turtle of coastal salt marshes from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, the only turtle besides sea turtles that lives in brackish water.

An eastern box turtle with an orange-and-brown patterned shell walking on pavement.

Eastern Box TurtleTerrapene carolinaA land turtle of the eastern United States that can close its shell like a box and may live more than 100 years.

An eastern diamondback rattlesnake with dark diamond markings coiled on the ground.

Eastern Diamondback RattlesnakeCrotalus adamanteusThe largest venomous snake in the United States, a quiet, reclusive rattlesnake of southeastern pine forests.

A glossy black eastern indigo snake coiled on sandy ground.

Eastern Indigo SnakeDrymarchon couperiThe largest native nonvenomous snake in the United States, a glossy black snake that shines blue in sunlight and even eats rattlesnakes.

A gray rat snake with dark blotches coiled on moss.

Gray Rat SnakePantherophis spiloidesA harmless, tree-climbing constrictor of the eastern and southeastern United States that eats rodents, birds and eggs.

A green sea turtle swimming over a sandy sea floor near Moorea, French Polynesia, seen from above.

Green Sea TurtleChelonia mydasA large sea turtle that grazes on seagrass and algae, named for the color of its fat rather than its shell.

A bright green tree python coiled over a branch.

Green Tree PythonMorelia viridisA bright green rainforest python of New Guinea and northern Australia whose babies hatch yellow or red and later turn green.

A Guatemalan beaded lizard with bumpy black and yellow banded skin climbing a tree trunk.

Guatemalan Beaded LizardHeloderma charlesbogertiAn endangered venomous lizard that lives only in one dry valley in eastern Guatemala and helped lead to a diabetes medicine.

A Komodo dragon walking on dry, rocky ground.

Komodo DragonVaranus komodoensisThe largest living lizard, a venomous predator found only on a few Indonesian islands that can smell food miles away.

A mata mata turtle with a flat, fringed head resting on stones underwater.

Mata MataChelus fimbriataA camouflaged Amazon turtle with a flat head and snorkel nose that vacuums up fish by suddenly opening its mouth.

Three pancake tortoises with flat brown shells resting among rocks and straw.

Pancake TortoiseMalacochersus tornieriA critically endangered East African tortoise with a thin, flat, flexible shell that hides in rock cracks instead of in its shell.

A radiated tortoise with yellow star-like lines on its domed shell walking over rocks.

Radiated TortoiseAstrochelys radiataA critically endangered Madagascar tortoise named for the yellow star-like lines on its high, domed shell.

A gray rhinoceros iguana with horn-like bumps on its snout standing on rocky ground.

Rhinoceros IguanaCyclura cornutaAn endangered plant-eating lizard found only on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, named for the horn-like scales on its snout.

A slender rough green snake coiled on the ground.

Rough Green SnakeOpheodrys aestivusA slender, harmless green snake of the southeastern United States that lives in shrubs and trees and eats insects and spiders.

A sandy-colored sidewinder rattlesnake coiled on gravel.

SidewinderCrotalus cerastesA small desert rattlesnake of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico that moves sideways across loose sand, making it the fastest rattlesnake.

A green Solomon Islands skink climbing on tree branches.

Solomon Islands SkinkCorucia zebrataThe world's largest skink, a tree-dwelling, mostly vegetarian lizard of the Solomon Islands with a tail that can grab branches.