PAINTED DESERT LIZARDS Lizards typically have feet and external ears, while snakes lack both of these characteristics. However, because they are defined negatively as excluding snakes, lizards have no unique distinguishing characteristic as a group. Lizards and snakes share a movable quadrate bone, distinguishing them from the sphenodonts, which have more primitive and solid diapsid skulls. Many lizards can detach their tails to escape from predators, an act called autotomy. Vision, including color vision, is particularly well developed in most lizards, and most communicate with body language or bright colors on their bodies, as well as with pheromones. Sight is very important for most lizards, both for locating prey and for communication, and, as such, many lizards have highly acute color vision. Most lizards rely heavily on body language, using specific postures, gestures, and movements to define territory, resolve disputes, and entice mates. Some species of lizards also use bright colors, such as the iridescent patches on the belly of Sceloporus. These colors would be highly visible to predators, so are often hidden on the underside or between scales and only revealed when necessary. The particular innovation in this respect is the dewlap, a brightly colored patch of skin on the throat, usually hidden between scales. When a display is needed, a lizard can erect the hyoid bone of its throat, resulting in a large vertical flap of brightly colored skin beneath the head which can be then used for communication. Anoles are particularly famous for this display, with each species having specific colors, including patterns only visible under ultraviolet (UV) light, as many lizards can see UV light. Lizard tails are often a different and dramatically more vivid color than the rest of the body so as to encourage potential predators to strike for the tail first. Many lizard species (including geckos, skinks, and others) are capable of shedding part of their tails through a process called autotomy. This is an example of the pars pro toto principle, sacrificing "a part for the whole", and is employed by lizards to allow them to escape when captured by the tail by a predator. The detached tail writhes and wiggles, creating a deceptive sense of continued struggle, distracting the predator's attention from the fleeing prey animal. The lizard will partially regenerate its tail over a period of weeks.
Frogs are mostly aquatic; most toads live on land (but near water). Frogs have teeth; toads do not. Toads of both sexes have a rudimentary ovary called a bidder's organ. Frogs are also typically longer than toads. Also, frogs have smooth, slimy skin; toads have dry, bumpy skin. The bumps, however, are not warts, and a person cannot get warts from handling a toad. There are about 5,500 known amphibian species, divided into 3 main groups: salamanders, newts, and mudpuppies; caecilians; and frogs and toads. Amphibians are animals that live part of their lives in water and part on land. They are vertebrates and are also ectothermic; they cannot regulate their own body heat, so they depend on sunlight to become warm and active.
The scientific name for the Red-eared Slider is Chrysemys scripta elegans, and it belongs to the Emydidae family. It is an aquatic turtle, a strong swimmer, and in the wild, will commonly be seen basking on rocks, logs, or other surfaces above the water. Turtles are reptiles, and cold-blooded, so they must rely on external heat sources for warmth. They will bask in sunlight, and in the wild, burrow down into the earth to hibernate in winter. Red-eared sliders get their name from the small red stripe around their ears. The "slider" in their name comes from their ability to slide off rocks and logs and into the water quickly. The females of the species are usually larger than the males. They typically live between 20 and 30 years, although some individuals have lived for more than 40 years. The normal range for the Red-eared Slider in the United States is from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico, and the East Coast to western Texas.
