reptile

/ˈrɛptaɪl/

/ˈrɛptaɪl/

Other forms: reptiles

A reptile is a cold-blooded, scaly animal with a backbone. Lizards and turtles? Yep — both reptiles. Puppies and kittens? No way.

There are many classes of animals. People are part of the mammal class. Another class is reptiles, which are all cold-blooded vertebrates (meaning they have backbones). Snakes, turtles, tortoises, lizards, alligators, chameleons, geckos, skinks, and crocodiles are all reptiles. You'll see plenty of reptiles at the zoo, and you'll see replicas of some at a natural history museum — since dinosaurs were reptiles!

Definitions of reptile

1. noun

   any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia including tortoises, turtles, snakes, lizards, alligators, crocodiles, and extinct forms
   synonyms: reptilian

   types:

   anapsid, anapsid reptile

   primitive reptile having no opening in the temporal region of the skull; all extinct except turtles

   diapsid, diapsid reptile

   reptile having a pair of openings in the skull behind each eye

   Diapsida, subclass Diapsida

   used in former classifications to include all living reptiles except turtles; superseded by the two subclasses Lepidosauria and Archosauria

   synapsid, synapsid reptile

   extinct reptile having a single pair of lateral temporal openings in the skull

   chelonian, chelonian reptile

   a reptile of the order Chelonia

   Sphenodon punctatum, tuatara

   only extant member of the order Rhynchocephalia of large spiny lizard-like diapsid reptiles of coastal islands off New Zealand

   saurian

   any of various reptiles of the suborder Sauria which includes lizards; in former classifications included also the crocodiles and dinosaurs

   archosaur, archosaurian, archosaurian reptile

   extinct reptiles including: dinosaurs; plesiosaurs; pterosaurs; ichthyosaurs; thecodonts

   crocodilian, crocodilian reptile

   extant archosaurian reptile

   protomammal, therapsid

   probably warm-blooded; considered direct ancestor of mammals

   ictodosaur

   intermediate in form between the therapsids and most primitive true mammals

   pelycosaur

   large primitive reptile having a tall spinal sail; of the Permian or late Paleozoic in Europe and North America

   edaphosaurus

   heavy-bodied reptile with a dorsal sail or crest; of the late Paleozoic

   dimetrodon

   an extinct, carnivorous, mammal-like reptile of the Permian period, characterized by its tall spinal sail

   ophidian, serpent, snake

   limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous

   type of:

   craniate, vertebrate

   animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton with a segmented spinal column and a large brain enclosed in a skull or cranium