Habitats

Did you know that there is a greater variety of reptile species in Australia than on any other continent?

Australia has 840 known species! This is an unusually high number, especially in comparison to North America which is a similar sized land mass, but which supports only 280 reptile species.

Not only does Australia have a large variety of reptiles, but approximately 90% of Australia’s reptiles are found nowhere else on earth.

Part of the reason for this diversity is the fact that they are solar heated (a more accurate term than ‘cold-blooded’), so they don’t need as much food to keep their body heated as a warm-blooded mammal would and can also go for a long time without food, whereas most mammals would starve. This makes reptiles particularly well adapted for Australia’s harsh and unpredictable climate, where food supply is often erratic.

Interestingly, Australia is home to the most highly-venomous species of snake in the world and is the only continent on which the venomous snake varieties outweigh the non-venomous ones.  Although less than one third of the world’s snake species are venomous, they make up 65% of Australia’s snakes.

Reptiles are a fascinating group of animals for a number of reasons. For example, some smell for food with their tongue. Unlike humans, reptiles benefit from having dry, scaly skin. When their skin becomes tarnished and dull, they shed the outer layer to reveal bright new colours and shine underneath.

Being limbless makes snakes particularly interesting. Despite having no legs, they are efficient hunters, killing prey by either injecting powerful venom through hollow fangs, or wrapping their body around the victim and suffocating it by squeezing. What comes next is also interesting, for snakes have no limbs with which to pull food apart so they have to swallow their prey whole. Consequently, most snakes can eat things much larger than their head.

When the tables are turned and something wants to eat them, reptiles have all sorts of interesting defence mechanisms. Some species are capable of making themselves appear larger and hence scarier than they really are. The Frilled Lizard, for example, spreads a large frill of skin around its neck. Other lizards, if grabbed by a predator, are able to drop their tail. The end of the tail continues to wiggle and distract the predator while the owner runs for safety, eventually growing a new tail.