Scaly reptile | vertebrate | Britannica (original) (raw)

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classification

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  In reptile: Annotated classification
  Order Squamata (squamates) Lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians. Upper Jurassic to present. Two suborders. Parietals fused; Jacobson’s organ with a fungiform projection and separate from nasal cavity, opening only into mouth cavity; paired functional hemipenes. Assorted References
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  In lizard
  …reptiles belonging in the order Squamata (which also includes snakes, suborder Serpentes). Lizards are scaly-skinned reptiles that are usually distinguished from snakes by the possession of legs, movable eyelids, and external ear openings. However, some traditional (that is, non-snake) lizards lack one or more of these features. For example, limb…
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comparison with sphenodontids

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  In tuatara: Evolution and classification
  …sister group to the order Squamata, and rhynchocephalids (sphenodontids) share numerous traits with squamates. Both groups possess a transverse cloacal opening (the vent), teeth that are attached superficially to the jawbones, and fracture planes in the tail vertebrae. Rhynchocephalids and squamates also undergo ecdysis, the periodic shedding or molting of…
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