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Reptiles

Reptiles are air-breathing vertebrates covered in scales or scutes. This group includes turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodilians, and the lizard-like tuatara. Most lay eggs on land, and all rely on the environment to regulate body heat.

18 guides in this group

Reptiles NT Ball Python Python regius The ball python is a small, shy West African constrictor that curls into a ball when frightened. It is the world's most popular pet snake, bred into thousands of colour morphs. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Black Mamba Dendroaspis polylepis The black mamba is Africa's most feared snake — long, fast, and armed with a fast-acting neurotoxic venom. Learn where the name comes from, how dangerous it really is, and why it usually flees. Read the guide →
Reptiles VU Galápagos Tortoise Chelonoidis niger The Galápagos tortoise is the largest living tortoise and one of the longest-lived animals, with shell shapes that differ island to island — an observation that helped inspire evolutionary theory. Read the guide →
Reptiles CR Gharial Gavialis gangeticus The gharial is a Critically Endangered Indian river crocodilian with a long thin snout built only for catching fish. Fewer than 1,000 breeding adults remain in a handful of rivers. Read the guide →
Reptiles NT Gila Monster Heloderma suspectum The Gila monster is one of only a handful of venomous lizards — a slow, beaded, black-and-orange desert reptile that spends 95% of its life underground and inspired a widely used diabetes drug. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Green Iguana Iguana iguana The green iguana is a large tree-dwelling lizard of the American tropics — a leaf-eating reptile with a third eye on its head that has become a damaging invasive species in Florida. Read the guide →
Reptiles VU Leatherback Sea Turtle Dermochelys coriacea The leatherback is the largest turtle on Earth and the deepest-diving reptile — a jellyfish hunter that keeps its body warm in near-freezing seas and crosses whole oceans to nest. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Leopard Gecko Eublepharis macularius The leopard gecko is a ground-dwelling desert lizard with movable eyelids, a fat storage tail it can drop and regrow, and a calm nature that made it one of the first domesticated reptiles. Read the guide →
Reptiles VU Marine Iguana Amblyrhynchus cristatus The marine iguana of the Galápagos is the only lizard that forages in the sea, grazing algae off the seabed, sneezing out salt, and shrinking its own skeleton when food runs short. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Panther Chameleon Furcifer pardalis The panther chameleon of Madagascar is the most vividly coloured chameleon, with skin that shifts by moving nanocrystals, eyes that swivel independently, and a tongue longer than its body. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Tuatara Sphenodon punctatus The tuatara of New Zealand looks like a lizard but is the last survivor of an order of reptiles older than the dinosaurs. It has a working third eye, keeps growing for decades, and may live past 100. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC American Alligator Alligator mississippiensis The American alligator is a freshwater ambush predator and an ecosystem engineer whose "gator holes" keep wetlands alive. Learn how it survives freezing water and how it came back from the brink. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Green Anaconda Eunectes murinus The green anaconda is the heaviest snake in the world, a non-venomous constrictor that ambushes prey from the water. Learn how it kills, why females dwarf males, and how it gives birth. Read the guide →
Reptiles EN Green Sea Turtle Chelonia mydas The green sea turtle is the only sea turtle that grazes seagrass as an adult, migrates thousands of kilometres, and returns to its birth beach to nest. Learn how it lives and why it's Endangered. Read the guide →
Reptiles VU King Cobra Ophiophagus hannah The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake and the only one that builds a nest for its eggs. Learn how it hunts other snakes, why it rears up, and what its venom does. Read the guide →
Reptiles EN Komodo Dragon Varanus komodoensis The Komodo dragon is the largest lizard alive, a venomous ambush predator found on just a few Indonesian islands. Learn how it hunts prey many times its size and why it's now Endangered. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Reticulated Python Malayopython reticulatus The reticulated python is the longest snake in the world, a non-venomous constrictor that swims between islands and lives alongside people across Southeast Asia. Learn how it hunts and breeds. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Saltwater Crocodile Crocodylus porosus The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile and has the strongest bite ever measured. Learn how it ambushes prey, crosses open ocean, and how it recovered from near-extinction. Read the guide →