1. Marine Reptiles

2. Reptiles, Birds, Mammals
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
3 Classes:
Class Reptilia
Class Aves (birds)
Class Mammalia

3. Reptiles, Birds, Mammals
Evolved from fish-like vertebrates
Moved from the water to the land
Developed 2 pairs of limbs for walking – tetrapods
Developed lungs to breathe
Challenge of land - need to avoid drying out

4. Lungfish – A Missing Link
Class Osteichthyes
Subclass Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned)
Breathe air through swim bladder
Pectoral and pelvic fins → “legs”

5. What About Amphibians? Lungfish – now only freshwater
Amphibians – some tolerate brackish water, none strictly marine
Extinct amphibians - ancestors to the reptiles
Extinct reptiles –
ancestors to the birds

6. Marine Reptiles Better adapted to life on land than amphibians
Skin covered with scales, prevents water loss
Eggs – leathery shell, lay on land

7. Marine Reptiles Some reinvaded the oceans, but still breathe air:
Turtles (Order Chelonia)
Snakes (Order Squamata)
Iguanas (Order Squamata)
Crocodiles (Order Crocodilia)
NOAA

8. Marine Reptiles
Ectotherms (“cold-blooded”), so mostly in warmer waters, seasonal in temperate waters
Cold stunning –
Turtles too far north when water temperature suddenly drops (<50°F)
Get lethargic, immobile, float to surface, wash up on beach
Fatal if not warmed

9. Marine Reptiles
Cold stunning –
Local sea turtles rehabilitated by Riverhead Foundation

10. Marine Reptiles
Riverhead Foundation release of 4 green turtles Aug. 20, 2011 at Hampton Bays

11. Sea Turtles 2 families, 7 (or 8) species
and ...species2.gif

12. Sea Turtles Anatomy: Dorsal shell = carapace Ventral shell = plastron
Head does not retract

13. Sea Turtles
Adaptation to salt water – glands near eyes that excrete salt (“tears”)

14. Sea Turtles Green (and Black) Global tropical and temperate
Eat seagrass, algae
NOAA

15. Sea Turtles Kemp’s Ridley Smallest species (2 ft, 100 lbs)
Only Gulf of Mexico and W. Atlantic
Nest only coast of Mexico, Texas
Eat mostly crabs

16. Sea Turtles Olive Ridley Slightly bigger than Kemp’s Ridley
Most abundant species worldwide
Indo-Pacific, S. Atlantic
Mass gatherings to lay eggs (“arribada”)
Omnivorous
NOAA
NOAA

17. Sea Turtles Hawksbill Global, most tropical species Hawk-like beak
Eat mostly sponges
NOAA

18. Sea Turtles Loggerhead Global tropical and temperate
Most abundant species U.S.
Eat benthic invertebrates
NOAA

19. Sea Turtles Flatback Australia, coastal only Omnivorous

20. Sea Turtles Leatherback Largest species (7 ft, 1200 lbs)
Global, widest distribution
Dive deep (up to 4000 ft)
“Warm-blooded” (counter-current circulation, fat)
Eat jellyfishes

21. Sea Turtles Migrations Up to 3000 miles from nesting areas
Green Turtle
Released 9/30/08
©Newsday, 2006

22. Sea Turtles Internal fertilization at sea
Females return to beach where they were born
Lay eggs on beach (oviparous) at night, cover eggs with sand using rear flippers
Several trips in one season, then not again for years

23. Sea Turtles Incubation about 60 days
Hatch at night, find water by moonlight
If hatch day – easy to find water, but more predators
Few survive to reproduce

24. Sea Turtles

25. Sea Turtles Human impacts: Food (meat & eggs), shell, leather
Entangled, trapped in fishing nets
Disrupt nests, confusion from lights
All sea turtles threatened or endangered status
NOAA

26. Sea Snakes Tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans 17 genera, 60+ species
Most 3-4 ft long, flattened body, paddle tail, swim by undulation
Ovoviviparous (eggs w/ yolk, live-born)

27. Sea Snakes Among most venomous snakes Carnivorous (bottom fish, eggs)
One long lung, dive for up to 2 hours
Salt excreting gland under tongue, also drink freshwater

28. Marine Iguanas Galapagos Islands (Pacific) only
Only 1 species of iguanas in the sea
3-5 ft long, 1-4 lbs
Glands in nose, sneeze out salt

29. Marine Iguanas Time on land – warm up Time in water – dive up to 15 m,
1 hour, feed on
seaweed

30. Marine Crocodiles 2 marine species:
American crocodile (S. Florida, Caribbean, Mexico to S. America)
Saltwater crocodile (SE Asia, N. Australia)
American crocodile
Saltwater crocodile

31. Marine Crocodiles
Usually coastal in mangrove swamps and estuaries, can venture out to sea
Most aggressive marine animal
Carnivore, ambush predator
SW Croc - largest marine reptile (up to
20 ft, 3000 lbs)