REPTILES (REPTILIA) (Crocodiles, snakes, turtles, tortoises and lizards)

 REPTILES (REPTILIA) (Crocodiles, snakes, turtles, tortoises and lizards)

Largest and Heaviest Reptiles

The largest reptile in the world is the estuarine or salt-water crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) of Southeast Asia, northern Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands, Adult bulls average 12-14 ft in length and scale about 1,100 lb. In 1823 a notorious man-eater 27 ft in length and weighing an estimated 4,400 lb was shot at Jala Jala on Luzon Island in the Philippines after terrorizing the neighborhood for many years. Its skull, the largest on record (if we exclude fossil remains) is now preserved in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University sity, Cambridge, Mass. Another outsized example with a reputed length of 33 ft and a maximum bodily girth of 13 ft 8 in was shot in the Bay of Bengal, India, in 1840, but the dimensions of its skull (preserved in the British Museum of Natural History, London) suggest that it must have come from a crocodile measuring about 24 ft.

The holder of the "official" record is a 20-ft-2-in bull harpooned by Keith Adams in the MacArthur River near Borroloola in northern Aus tralia June 26, 1960.

In July 1957 an unconfirmed length of 28 ft 4 in was reported for an estuarine crocodile shot by Mrs Kris Pawlowski on MacArthur Bank in the Norman River, northwestern Queensland, Australia.

 Largest Lizard

The largest of all lizards is the Komodo monitor or Ora (Varanus komodensis ),a dragon-like reptile found on the Indonesian islands of Komdo. Rintja Padar and Flores. Adult males average in length and With 175-200 Ib. Lengths up to 23 ft have been quoted for this species, but the largest specimen to be accurately measured was a male presented to an American zoologist in 1928 by the Sultan of Bima which ped 10 no in 1h 1917 the animal was put on display in the St Louis Zoological Gardens fora short period. It then measured 1o n 2 in in length and weighed 365 lb..

 The longest lizard in the world is the slender Salvadori dragon (trane Canada) or New Guinea. One of 18 ft was reporied by Oper ation Drake" in Dec 1979.

Oldest Lizard 

The greatest age recorded for a lizard is more than 54 years for a male gen, Denmark, from 1892 until 1946 low worm (Anguis fragilis) kept in the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1892 until 1946.

Largest Chelonians

The largest of all chelonians is the Pacific leatherback turtle (Dermo chelvr coriacea schlegeli) The average adult measures 6-7 ft in overall length (length of carapace 4-5 n) and weighs between 660 and 800 lb. The greatest weight reliably recorded is 1.908 Ib for a specimen captured off Monterey, Calif on Aug 29, 1961. Its length was 8 t 4 in overall The largest living tortoise is Geo Chelone (Testudo legend of the In indian Ocean islands of Aldabra.

 Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles (in- troduced 1874) Adult males sometimes exceed 350 lb in weight and a specimen weighing 900 lb was allegedly collected in Aldabra in 1847 The largest desert tortoise is the protected Gopherus ages of the south western US, which normally weighs about 10-12 lb when fully grown. In Jan 1976 a weight of 23 lb 14 oz was recorded for a huge male with a shell 15 in long, found in the Mojave Desert. Calif.

Longest-Lived Chelonians

Tortoises are the longest-lived of all vertebrates. Reliable records over 100 years include a common box tortoise (Testudo carolina) of 138 years and a European pond tortoise (Emys orbicularis) of 120+ years. The greatest proven age of a continuously observed tortoise is 116+ years for Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) which died in Paignton Zoo, Devon. England, in 1957.

Slowest-Moving Chelonians In a recent "speed" test carried out in the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, a male giant tortoise (Geochelone gigantea) could only covered in 43 sec (0.23 mph) despite the enticement of a female tortoise. The National Tortoise Championship held at Tickhill, South Yorkshire. England has the animals going up a 1:12 grade and the meet record is 18 in 43.7 sec by "Charlie."

Smallest Reptiles

The smallest known species of reptile is believed to be Sphaerodactylus  parthenopion, a tiny gecko found only on the island of Virgin Gorda. one of the British Virgin islands the Caribbean. It is known only from 15 specimen sliding some gravid females, found between Aug 10 and 16 1964 The three largest females measured 0.71 in from snout to vent,with tail of approximately the same length El poble that another gecko, Sphaerodactylus lissorhynchus, may be evil maler The only specimen ever discovered was an apparently m e female with a snout vent length of 0.67 in and a tail of the same length found March 15, 1966 among the roots of a tree in the western pari of the Massif de la Hotte in Haiti.

A species of dwarf chameleon ,Evoluticauda tuberculata, found in Madagascar, and gown only from a single specimen ,has a snout-vent length of 0.71 in and  a tail length of 0.55 in. Chameleons, however, are more bulky than geckos, and it is not yet known if this specimen was fully grown.

Shortest Snakes

The shortest known snake is the thread snake Leptotyphlops bilineata, found on the Caribbean islands of Martinique, Barbados and St. Lucia I has a maximum recorded length of 4.7 in .

The shores venomous snake is the striped dwarf garter snake (Elap dorsalis of South Africa, Adults average 6 in in length.

Heaviest Snakes

 The heaviest snake is the anaconda (Eunectes murinus), which is nearly twice as heavy as a reticulated python or the same length. The specimen hot in Brazil c. 1960 was not weighed, but based on its max. imum bodily girth of 44 in, it must have weighed nearly 500 lb.

The heaviest venomous snake is the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus), found in the southeastern US. One specimen measuring 7 ft 9 in in length weighed 34 lb. Less reliable weights up to 40 Ib and lengths up to 8 A 9 in have been reported. 

A posthumous weight of 28 lb was reported for a king cobra (Ophio- phagus hannah) 145 in long at the New York Zoological Park (Bronx Zoo) in Feb 1973.

Longest Snakes

The longest of all snakes (average adult length) is the reticulated python (Python reticulatus) of Southeast Asia, Indonesia and the Philip pines, which regularly exceeds 20 A. In 1912 a specimen measuring ex. actly 32 ft 9 in was shot near a mining camp on the north coast of Celebes in the Malay archipelago.

Lengths of 37% ft, 42 t and even 45 ft have been claimed for the ana conda (Eunectes murinus) of tropical South America, but these extreme measurements were probably based on stretched skins The greatest au thenticated length recorded for an anaconda is 27 ft 9 in for a female killed in Brazil c. 1960.

The longest snake living in captivity today is probably a female reticulated python named "Cassius' owned by Adrian Nyoka of Knares borough Zoo. North Yorkshire, England, which measures 25 ft and weighs 240 lb. It was collected in Malaysia in 1972.

 The longest venomous snake in the world is the king cobra (Photo phagus hannah), also called the hamadryad, of Southeast Asia and the Philippines. A specimen collected near Port Dickson in Malaysia in April 1937 grew to 18 n 9 in in the London Zoo. I was destroyed at the out break of war in 1939.

Oldest Snake

 The greatest irrefutable age recorded for a snake is 40 years 3 months and 14 days in the case of a common Boa (Boa constrictor constrictor) at Philadelphia Zoological Gardens Named "Popeye," he was purchased from a London dealer in Dec 1936, and he was euthanased (his life was humanely ended) on April 15, 1977 because of medical problems associated with advanced age.

Fastest Moving Land Snake

The fastest-moving land snake is probably the slender black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis). On Apr 23, 1906 an angry black mamba was time at a speed of 7 mph over a measured distance of 47 yd near Mbuyuni on the Serengeti Plains, Tanzania. Stories that black mambas can overtake galloping horses (maximum speed 43.26 mph) are wild ex aggerations, though a speed of 15 mph may be possible for short bursts over level ground.

The highest speed measured for any reptile on land is 18 mph by a six lined race runner (Cnemidophorus sexlineatus) pursued by a car near McCormick. SC, in 1941. The highest speed claimed for any reptile in water is 22 mph by a frightened Pacific leatherback turtle.

 Most Venomous Snakes

The most venomous snake is the sea snake (Hydrophis belcheri) which has a venom 100 times as toxic as that of the Australian taipan (Ox. yurant scutellatus). The snake abounds around Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, off the coast of northwestern Australia.

 The most venomous land snake is the small scaled or fierce snake (Parademansia microlepidotus) of southwestern Queensland and north castern South Australia and Tasmania. One specimen yielded 0.00385 oz of venom after milking. a quantity sufficient to kill at least 125.000 mice. Until 1976. this 6-ft-6-in-long snake was regarded as a western form of the taipan. but its venom differs significantly from the latter. 

It is estimated that between 30.000 and 40.000 people (excluding Chinese and Russians) die from snakebite each year, 75% of them in densely populated India. Burma has the highest mortality rate with 15.4 deaths per 100,000 population per annum.

Longest Fangs

The longest fangs of any snake are those of the Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica), of tropical Africa. In a 6-ft-long specimen, the fangs measured 1.96 in. A Gaboon viper bite itself to death on Feb 12, 1963 in the Phila. delphia Zoological Gardens. Keepers found the dead snake with its fangs deeply embedded in its own back.

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