Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

 

Almost 6000 species in the order

 

Suborders:

Lizards - lacertilia

Snakes - serpentes

Worm lizards - amphisbaenia

 

 

Distingushed by scaley skin

Fossils date back to the early Jurassic era

 

 

 

The mating season depends on the climate. In colder regions, mating takes place in the spring. In tropical regions however, mating can take place year round. The female secretes pheromones while she moves that the male picks up on. Very rarely do males battle for a female.

 

During mating, the male lifts the end of the female's tail with his own and inserts one of his two hemipenes into the cloaca of the female. In some species, the male has fine spines or hooks on his hemipenes in order to hold on to the female. Mating can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. A female can mate several times during one season with either the same or a different male.

 

The female stores the sperm in her oviduct for 1-2 months before producing large eggs which are fertilized upon release from the female's ovary. The eggs are layed in shallow holes or under rocks. The female guards the eggs until they hatch -- months later.

 

Snakes gain maturity after 2 - 4 years and can live between 20 and 30 years.

 

Some species of squamata can even reproduce asexually through the process parthenogenesis.

 

 

 

 

Squamates have the ability to live just about anywhere - from the dry deserts to the wet and rainy rainforest. Most live on land above ground but others live elsewhere. Wormlizards for example are fossorial which means that they live underground msot of the time. Many snakes are arboreal which means that they live among tree branches. And others, such as the water snake, rarely leave the water.