Points to Consider
- Some lizards have a dewlap, a brightly colored patch of skin on the throat, which is
used in displays. What colorful displays do you think are used for courtship in birds
and mammals? - Lizards and snakes use smell to track their prey, using the Jacobson’s or vomeronasal
organ in the mouth, as well as a forked tongue. How do you think this compares to
the sense of smell in birds and mammals and the structures used for smelling in these
groups? - Like the scales comprising the shell of a turtle, or the cross-section of a tree trunk,
crocodile osteoderms (small plates of bone under the scales) have annual growth rings,
and by counting them it is possible to tell their age. Can we determine age in the same
way in either birds or mammals?
Image Sources
(1) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wobbegong.jpg. GNU-FDL.(2) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nerodia_sipedon_shedding.JPG.
CC-BY-SA 2.5.(3) Jonathan Zander. An Indian gharial crocodile.. GNU-FDL.(4) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Periophthalmus_modestus.jpg.
CC-BY-SA 2.5.(5) Christian Bier.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg. CC-BY-SA 2.5.(6) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AB_053_Banded_Krait.JPG.
CC-BY-SA 2.5.(7) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anaconda_jaune_34.JPG. The
photographer of this work allows anyone to use it for any purpose including
unrestricted redistribution, commercial use, and modification..(8) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Lizard_on_a_rock_on_Park_Avenue_in_Arches_NP2.jpeg. CC-BY-SA 2.5.(9) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toad15.jpg. Public Domain.(10) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Braxen,_Iduns_kokbok.jpg. Public
Domain.
(11) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NileCrocodile.jpg. CC-BY-SA 2.0.
