The largest ancient reptiles include. Origin of reptiles. Habitats of crocodiles

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1) Flowering plants have come to dominate most ecosystems over the course of

2) Paleozoic era

3) Mesozoic era

Proterozoic era

4) Cenozoic era

Explanation.

The first remains of angiosperms (flowering) plants were found in strata of the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods (135-65 million years ago) of the Mesozoic era. Traces of the widespread development and distribution of angiosperms were discovered during the Middle Cretaceous period (about 100 million years ago). In the Late Cretaceous, angiosperms proved to be the dominant form of plant life. As temperatures rose at the end of the Cretaceous (65 million years ago), plants with richer foliage evolved.

The Paleozoic era (Paleozoic) consists of the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian periods. The oldest representatives of the flora were psilophytes; in the early Devonian, other groups of terrestrial vascular plants arose from psilophytes: lycophytes, horsetails and ferns.

The Mesozoic era (Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous periods) is a time of undivided dominance of reptiles and gymnosperms. In the Cretaceous period, angiosperm flowering plants began to rapidly spread throughout the globe. The ancestors of modern poplar, birch, laurel, oak, beech, willow, plane tree, magnolia, and grapes appeared. The terrestrial flora began to take on its modern appearance. Proterozoic era - the second era from the beginning geological history Earth, huge in duration, the longest stage early life

lasting ~2000 million years. During this era, bacteria and algae flourished. Cenozoic era - newest era

geological history of the Earth, covering the modern era. Terrestrial vegetation experienced renewal back in the middle of the Cretaceous period, when angiosperms (flowering) plants took a dominant place in its composition. To the beginning of K. e. not only the majority of currently existing families of angiosperms arose, but also many of their genera, which later, as climate changes, form typical communities characteristic of different climatic zones.

Answer: 2

Answer: 2 Source: Yandex: Training work

Unified State Exam in Biology. Option 3. 22.10.2013 13:59

In your explanation it is written that the correct answer is 4 “when angiosperms (flowering) plants took a dominant place in its composition. No.

Natalia Evgenievna Bashtannik

The correct answer is 2. Mesozoic era (Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous periods) -In the Cretaceous period, angiosperm flowering plants began to rapidly spread throughout the globe. The terrestrial flora began to take on its modern appearance.

Unified State Exam in Biology. Option 3. 07.06.2014 17:15

During the Mesozoic era (more precisely, the Cretaceous period), angiosperms (flowering plants) appeared, but they took a dominant position in the CENIOZOIC era (Paleogene period).

Source: A.Yu.Iontseva "biology in diagrams and tables for applicants"

Unified State Exam in Biology. Option 3. 07.06.2014 20:35

In your explanation it is stated in Mesozoic era Gynosperms dominated, not flowering plants (angiosperms)! IN Cretaceous period Mesozoic era they just began to spread rapidly and a sharp decline in ferns and gymnosperms began! The answer is 4 definitely!

Natalia Evgenievna Bashtannik

Terrestrial vegetation experienced renewal back in the middle of the Cretaceous period, when angiosperms (flowering) plants took a dominant place in its composition.

Alexandra Tabratova 10.11.2014 16:23

Firstly, the explanation says 2 completely contradictory things:

“The Mesozoic era (Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous periods) is a time of undivided dominance of reptiles and gymnosperms” and “Cenozoic era... Terrestrial vegetation experienced renewal in the middle of the Cretaceous period, when angiosperms (flowering plants) took a dominant place in its composition plants"

Secondly, the SCHOOL textbook says:

“Changes in the flora of the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era are associated with the appearance of angiosperms (flowering) plants... In the flora of the Cenozoic, angiosperms took a dominant place” textbook by A.V. Teremova, R.A. Petrosova Biology, grade 11.

Natalia Evgenievna Bashtannik

Well, that means the authors of the question (FIPI) did not read the textbook by A.V. Teremova, R.A. Petrosova, Biology, grade 11.

Correct answer -2

But there is no contradiction in the explanation. The Cretaceous period belongs to the Mesozoic era.

Establish a correspondence between organisms that appeared or flourished in the process of evolution and the eras in which they appeared and flourished.

4) Cenozoic era

Paleozoic era: the rise of mollusks. Mesozoic era: the emergence of the first birds; the rise of reptiles (dinosaurs). Cenozoic era: the rise of insects; the rise of mammals; distribution of birds.

Answer: 221333.

Note.

The flowering (and not the appearance or development) of insects occurs in the Cenozoic era, in parallel with the flowering of angiosperms.

Establish a correspondence between organisms that appeared or flourished in the process of evolution and the eras in which they appeared and flourished.

Write down the numbers in your answer, arranging them in the order corresponding to the letters:

4) Cenozoic era

Archean era: emergence of bacteria and protozoa; appearance blue-green seaweed Proterozoic era: appearance of red algae; flourishing of protozoa and coelenterates. Cenozoic era: the emergence and flourishing of primates; the appearance of man.

Answer: 311223.

Answer: 311223

Natalia Evgenievna Bashtannik

The first living organisms arose in the Archean era. They were heterotrophs and used organic compounds from the “primary broth” as food. (Biopalimers were discovered in sedimentary rocks dating back 3.5 billion years). The first inhabitants of our planet were anaerobic bacteria. The most important stage in the evolution of life on Earth is associated with the emergence of photosynthesis, which determines the division of the organic world into plant and animal.

The first photosynthetic organisms were prokaryotic (prenuclear) cyanobacteria and blue-green algae. Eukaryotic green algae that then appeared released free oxygen into the atmosphere from the ocean, which contributed to the emergence of bacteria capable of living in an oxygen environment. At the same time, on the border of the Archean Proterozoic era, two more major evolutionary events occurred - the sexual process and multicellularity appeared.

Vladimir Parasochka 10.06.2018 20:09

Green algae appeared in the Proterozoic. "Biology 11th grade" A.V. Teremov, R.A. Petrosova

The picture shows Archeopteryx, an extinct animal that lived 150-147 million years ago.

Using a fragment of the “Geochronological Table”, determine in what era and what period he lived given organism?

Scientists consider this animal to be a transitional form. Name the classes to which the depicted animal can be classified. What features external structure allow us to attribute it to these classes?

Geochronological table

4) Cenozoic era

In order to answer the questions, you need to use the corresponding columns of the Geochronological Table and make basic mathematical calculations.

Era: the period of residence of Archeopteryx is indicated: 150-147 million years ago. We carry out calculations using the second column, which indicates the beginning of the periods. The Mesozoic began 230 million years ago, and the Cenozoic began 67 million years ago. This means that Archeopteryx lived in the Mesozoic era.

Period: we take the beginning of the era 230 million years ago, subtract the duration of the Periods, - Triassic 230-35 = 195 million years ago;

minus Jurassic 195-58=137 million years ago. It turns out that Archeopteryx lived in the Jurassic period.

We determine the ancestor using column 4 (or use our knowledge).

Response elements:

1) Era – Mesozoic; Period – Jurassic;

2) an animal can be classified as a reptile based on the presence

jaws with teeth, long tail and developed fingers;

3) an animal can be classified as a bird based on the presence

feather cover and wings

1) Paleozoic

2) Cenozoic

3) Mesozoic

4) Proterozoic

4) Cenozoic era

Let us note that the question is somewhat vague. The plant world acquired its modern appearance over millions of years on the border of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras.

The spread and dominance of angiosperms began at the end of the Mesozoic era; By the beginning of the Paleogene, the first period of the Cenozoic era, the plant world acquired a more familiar form to us, continuing to change and develop until the present time.

Unified State Exam in Biology. Option 3. 21.04.2013 13:00

I believe that this assignment gives the wrong answer to the question of in what era the plant world acquired its modern appearance. In general, the prevailing opinion among experts is that the dominance of angiosperms began at the boundary of the Early and Late Cretaceous. There is even a special term - “Cenophyte”, which designates the time period of dominance of angiosperms starting from the beginning of the Late Cretaceous. Thus, the answer that the plant world acquired its modern appearance in the Cenozoic era is incorrect; the correct answer is the Mesozoic era.

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According to the dominance of groups of the animal world, the geological time scale is divided into three eras: Paleozoic - era ancient life, Mesozoic - era average life and Cenozoic - our era, modern life. The Mesozoic was the time when reptiles dominated the Earth, and the Cenozoic - mammals.

The same time scale, from the point of view of the development of the plant world, can be divided into paleophyte - the time of dominance of spores and the earliest gymnosperms, mesophyte - the time of gymnosperms, they are very numerous and diverse in this era, and cenophyte - the time of angiosperms or flowering plants.

The boundaries of eras do not coincide. The mesophyte begins in the middle of the Permian period and ends in the middle of the Cretaceous. Thus, the plant world gradually acquired the features of what is modern to us towards the end of the Mesozoic - beginning of the Cenozoic era. (In the same way that you can take Sunday night and Monday morning as the beginning of the week.)

However, evolution does not stop, and all living organisms on Earth change constantly from generation to generation. Therefore, although the birch genus has been known since the Upper Cretaceous, this does not mean that the chalk birch and the birch outside your window are the same thing. That's at least two different types. Many scientists believe that it is impossible to classify that Cretaceous plant as a modern genus “birch”.

The distribution of plants on Earth in those days was also very different from today. Those genera that we now find only in tropical and subtropical climate zones, like breadfruit or magnolia, were widespread in much higher latitudes in the Paleogene. Thus, on the territory of our country, along with oak, maple, alder, and birch, ginkgo, metasequoia, and magnolia grew. On Spitsbergen, where there are now only polar lichens and low-growing grasses, there was a noise broadleaf forests. In Europe at this time there was an accumulation coal in the swamps of evergreen dense forests of swamp cypress, laurel, beech, palm and tree ferns.

(By: V. A. Tsimbal, Plants. Parallel world)

Igor Bragin 30.04.2013 16:22

The Mesozoic is a period of time in the geological history of the Earth from 251 million to 65 million years ago, one of the three eras of the Phanerozoic. It was first isolated in 1841 by British geologist John Phillips.

The Mesozoic is an era of tectonic, climatic and evolutionary activity. The formation of the main contours of modern continents and mountain building on the periphery of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans; the division of land facilitated speciation and other important evolutionary events. The climate was warm throughout the entire time period, which also played an important role in the evolution and formation of new animal species. By the end of the era, the bulk of the species diversity of life approached its modern state.

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Somewhat closer. Species diversity throughout its history has been approaching its current state. But do not forget that by the end of the Mesozoic era, at least 30-40% of the former animal world died out. In particular, all animals are larger than a crocodile. This is precisely the boundary between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Therefore, the species diversity of the Cenozoic is still closer to ours than the Mesozoic.

The era in which primates flourished and humans emerged

1) Paleozoic

2) Proterozoic

3) Mesozoic

4) Cenozoic

4) Cenozoic era

The era in which primates flourished and humans appeared is the Cenozoic.

The Cenozoic Era is the current era of the Earth's geological history. It began 66.0 million years ago and continues to this day.

Answer: 4.

Answer: 4

Using a fragment of a geochronological table, establish the era and period in which this organism died out, as well as its possible “ close relative"in modern flora (the answer is at the department level).

What structural features characterize the Noe medullosa plant as a higher seed plant?

4) Cenozoic era

Let's use the table, CALCULATE the period, focus on the indicated date of extinction - 270 million years ago. We find the closest date - 230 million years ago - Mesozoic, there are no seed ferns here anymore, which means they died out in the previous era - PALEOZOIC, by 230 +55 (Duration of the Permian period) = 285 million years ago

in the fourth column we will find the extinction of ferns - correct!; We determine by the first and third columns the era and period when seed ferns die out.

Seed ferns are the most primitive group among gymnosperms. Some scientists conclude that they occupy an intermediate position between true ferns and gymnosperms, while others consider these groups to have arisen and evolved in parallel.

Response elements:

1) Era: Paleozoic

Period: Permian (Perm)

2) “Close relatives” of this plant in the modern flora: Gymnosperms

3) Characteristics of higher seed plants:

The body is divided into roots, stems, leaves and reproductive organs. Reproduction of seed ferns occurred using seeds. The sporophyte is the dominant generation; the gametophyte is extremely reduced. Sporophyte heterosporous, i.e. forms two types of spores: microspores and megaspores; microspore – pollen grain, megaspore – embryo sac. Water is not needed for sexual reproduction.

Note.

There is a point of view according to which seed ferns did not have a true seed, although they did have an ovule. In this regard, they, as well as modern cycads and ginkgos, were classified not as seed plants, but as so-called ovule plants.

Tree plants, appearance and the structure of the leaves resembled real ferns, but reproduced with the help of seeds. The development of the embryo most likely occurred after the seed fell to the ground. The large stems of seed ferns contained secondary xylem; pinnate leaves differed from true ferns only in the structure of the epidermis, stomata and petioles.

Section: Fundamentals of evolutionary teaching

Source: I WILL SOLVE the Unified State Exam

The picture shows a trilobite, an animal that became extinct about 270 million years ago.

Using a fragment of a geochronological table, establish the era and period in which the given organism became extinct, as well as the type to which the depicted organism belongs. Indicate the characteristics by which it belongs to the type you specified.

4) Cenozoic era

Let's use the table, CALCULATE the period, focus on the indicated date of extinction - 270 million years ago. We find the closest date - 230 million years ago - Mesozoic, there are no trilobites here anymore, which means they died out in the previous era - PALEOZOIC, by 230 +55 (Duration of the Permian period) = 285 million years ago

in the fourth column we find the extinction of trilobites - correct!; We determine by the first and third columns the era and period when trilobites become extinct.

Answer:

1) Era: Paleozoic

Period: Permian.

2) Trilobite belongs to Arthropods.

3) Trilobites belong to the phylum Arthropods - characteristics: segmented body and limbs.

Using a fragment of a geochronological table, establish the era and period in which these organisms appeared, as well as a possible ancestor of the plant division level.

Indicate by what characteristics psilophytes are classified as higher spore plants.

Geochronological table

4) Cenozoic era

Let's use the table and find psilophytes in the third column; We determine by the second and first columns the era and period when psilophytes lived

Answer:

1) Era: Paleozoic

Period: Silurian

2) The ancestors of psilophytes are multicellular green algae.

3) The characteristics of higher spore plants are:

Dividing the body into two parts - aboveground and underground

The presence of multicellular reproductive organs - sexual (gametangia) and asexual (sporangium)

Primitive conduction system cover tissue

Note.

Psilophytes had a tree-like shape; individual thread-like processes served them to attach to the soil and absorb water and minerals from it. Along with the formation of a semblance of roots, stems and a primitive conducting system, psilophytes have developed integumentary tissue that protects them from drying out.

Higher plants are multicellular phototrophic organisms adapted to life in a terrestrial environment and characterized by the correct alternation of sexual and asexual generations and the presence of differentiated tissues and organs.

The main characteristics that distinguish higher plants from lower ones:

Adaptation to living in a terrestrial environment;

The presence of clearly differentiated tissues that perform specific specialized functions;

The presence of multicellular reproductive organs - sexual (gametangia) and asexual (sporangium). Male gametangia of higher plants are called antheridia, female gametangia are called archegonia. The gametangia of higher plants (as opposed to lower ones) are protected by membranes of sterile (sterile) cells and (in separate groups plants) can be reduced, i.e. reduced and simplified;

Transformation of the zygote into a typical multicellular embryo, the cells of which are initially undifferentiated, but are genetically determined to specialize in a certain direction;

Correct alternation of two generations - haploid sexual (gametophyte), developing from a spore, and diploid asexual (sporophyte), developing from a zygote;

Domination in life cycle sporophyte (in all departments except Bryophytes);

Division of the sporophyte body (in most departments of higher plants) into specialized vegetative organs - root, stem and leaves.

Source: Unified State Exam - 2018, I will solve the Unified State Exam

Valeria Rudenko 15.06.2018 16:32

Hello. I don’t understand, how should we determine the ancestor of plants? Why do we take multicellular green algae?

Natalia Evgenievna Bashtannik

We use biological knowledge, and the drawing shows weak differentiation of the body

Vasily Rogozhin 09.03.2019 13:39

Of course, the ancestors of psilophytes, like all higher plants, are not ancient Green algae, but Characeae, which now form an independent department.

And in addition to the answer about the differences between higher plants and lower ones, it is worth noting that “the presence of clearly differentiated tissues” is not absolute today hallmark these groups of plants. Brown algae, for example, related to lower plants, have real tissues (tissue type of thallus differentiation). The presence of organs - yes, this is a sign only of higher plants, but both higher and lower plants can have real tissues.

In school courses, unfortunately, they will study information from 20-40 years ago for many years to come.

BUT! This is the “C” part, which means you can give an answer based on modern scientific data. If it comes to an appeal, in this case the points can be won back.

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Or you may not “win back.” As correct answers to the Unified State Examination, those reflected in the current school textbooks, approved by the Ministry of Education. You can remember the story about a student who brought a textbook for appeal and then to court high school, confirming her answer to the Unified State Exam. Didn't count it.

Vasily Rogozhin 14.03.2019 15:13

An insignificant clarification for school, but significant for science, to the correct answer:

The ancestors of psilophytes, like all higher plants, are not green, but CHARAL algae, which belong to an independent department in the Archeplastid group, and differ significantly from representatives of the Green algae department.

The picture shows a belemnite, an extinct animal that lived 440-410 million years ago.

Using a fragment of a geochronological table, establish the era and period in which this organism lived, as well as the “close relatives” of this animal in the modern fauna (the answer is at the genus level). What features of the external structure allow us to draw such conclusions?

Geochronological table

4) Cenozoic era

In the Silurian period (440-410 million years ago), large animals first appeared in the seas; before that, their sizes did not exceed a few centimeters. The largest marine animals of the Silurian were cephalopods with an outer shell the size of a telegraph pole, its length sometimes reached 4-5 meters.

Belemnites are very similar to modern squids and, like them, were good swimmers. On their heads were large eyes and ten arms with suction cups - two long and eight shorter. Like some squid, belemnites had a shell inside their body - these shells are often found in Mesozoic deposits and are called "devil's fingers". In shape and size they really look like pointed fingers. Most scientists believe that the shell was calcareous, like the shells of other mollusks, but some think that living belemnites had a soft, cartilaginous shell that petrified after death. Ammonites and belemnites became completely extinct at the end of the Mesozoic era.

Answer:

ERA: Paleozoic

Period: Silurian

Possible "relative": squid

Belemnites are very similar to modern squids and, like them, were good swimmers. On their heads were large eyes and ten arms with suction cups - two long and eight shorter. Like some squid, belemnites had a shell inside their body - these shells are often found in Mesozoic deposits and are called "devil's fingers".

Note.

How to calculate...

Source: Unified State Examination - 2018

The explanation for task 23 No. 22172 states that

"The most characteristic inhabitants of the Mesozoic seas were ammonites and belemnites." That is, for both ammonites and belemnites it is more correct to choose the Mesozoic period. But it turns out that in the task about belemnites it is correct to choose the Paleozoic Silurian, and in the task about ammonites - the Mesozoic Jurassic (or Triassic, or Cretaceous).

The geochronological table also lists the Jurassic period of the Mesozoic as the period of greatest flowering of cephalopods.

Natalia Evgenievna Bashtannik

And they appeared back in the Cambrian.

In this task you need to do calculations: (and not just use a table

Alexey Goreev 03.02.2018 18:56

But you have an error in the period, you should calculate more carefully))

Natalia Evgenievna Bashtannik

How to calculate...

We find the date closest to the condition in the second column (age). The closest to 440 million years is 570.

We decided on the era → Paleozoic.

Now let’s determine the period: 570 - 440 (410) million years ago = 130. Now we “go up” in the third column:

130-70 (Cambrian) - 60 (Ordovician) → we get Silurian

Nailya Mutalimova 28.06.2018 20:04

Please explain why Paleozoic

Natalia Evgenievna Bashtannik

We find the date closest to the condition in the second column (age). The closest to 440 million years is 570.

We decided on the era → Paleozoic.

The drawings show a skeleton and feather imprint and a reconstruction of an extinct animal that lived 150–147 million years ago.

Using a fragment of the “Geochronological Table”, determine in what era and what period did this organism live? Scientists consider this animal to be a transitional form. Name the classes to which the depicted animal can be classified. What features of the external structure allow it to be classified into these classes?

Geochronological table

4) Cenozoic era

Response elements:

1) Era - Mesozoic; Period - Jurassic;

2) an animal can be classified as a reptile based on the presence of a jaw with teeth, a long tail and developed fingers;

3) an animal can be classified as a bird based on the presence of feathers and wings.

Source: Demo version of the Unified State Exam 2018 in biology.

Darya Luchinkina 17.12.2017 16:24

Triassic period. After all, 186-51 = 135 million years ago the Triassic ended and the Jurassic began. That is, 136 million years ago the Triassic was still going on, and 137 million years ago it was going on, and 150-147 million years ago it was going on. But not Jurassic.

Natalia Evgenievna Bashtannik

You are subtracting from the wrong date... 186 is the duration, not the beginning of the period.

The figure shows imprints of a leaf, a seed and a reconstruction of an extinct plant that lived 350-285 million years ago.

Using a fragment of the “Geochronological Table”, determine in what era and what periods this organism lived.

This plant has the characteristics of two divisions, successively formed during evolution. Name these departments. What features of the external structure allow us to classify the depicted plant as belonging to these divisions? What is the name of a group of extinct plants that had such characteristics? Geochronological table

List of movements of the lowest vertebrates - fish - consists almost entirely of swimming locomotion. The movements characteristic of fish are wavy, smooth, monotonous synergies that cover the entire body of the fish (from the head to the tail propeller).

These movements do not stop for a minute, even while the fish is calmly standing in one place, even while it is sleeping. These, still extremely pitiful, motor capabilities are obviously quite sufficient for fish, because fish life is satisfied with them to this day. The state of things began to change dramatically in that era when the oceans of the Earth became smaller and smaller, and there were more and more inhabitants in them, and the conquest of land and air became inevitable.

We will not dwell here on the second stage of vertebrates - on amphibians. They were, in essence, only a transitional form and in no era did they prevail either in quantity or in variety of species. Such a dominant role on Earth went to reptiles, or reptiles, the next in order of stage of vertebrate development. Reptiles remained the masters of the Earth for a much longer time than the mammals that defeated them have since had time to do (this can be seen from the figures we cited above in the summary table of the evolution of vertebrates). Mammals exterminated reptiles quickly and surely (we will see exactly why below). Reptiles once existed on globe in a huge number of orders and species, owning the surface of the sea, land, and air. In our time, only remnants have survived from all this abundance of reptiles, only four groups: lizards, turtles, snakes and crocodiles, as if to this day they are taking revenge on their conquerors - mammals - with icy ferocity and murderous poison - the last thing they have left.

Reptiles began to develop rapidly in the so-called Triassic era; this was their “ancient kingdom”, when most of them were still aquatic inhabitants (giant fish lizards - ichthyosaurs, lizards with swan necks - plesiosaurs, etc.). In the next, Jurassic era, they already mastered all the elements. Flying through the air, probably emitting sharp, disharmonious cries, are toothy flying finger-wings - pterodactyls. On land, lizards breed in abundance and great diversity. It must be said that reptiles were the first living creatures to begin the exploration of land and air; they had no predecessor competitors, and the conquest was not difficult and did not require either struggle or the development of improved organs for it. In the still warm, greenhouse climate of the slowly cooling Earth, on the rich humus of the rich coal vegetation that covered the land in previous eras, without any dangerous enemies, they grew, like giant toadstools grow on manure, reaching monstrous sizes that were no longer reborn on earth. surfaces.

During this Jurassic era - the "middle kingdom" of reptiles, so to speak - they reached their greatest flowering. Paleontology - the science of fossil remains - presents us in this era with a complete album of types of land reptiles. Only a few of them actually “crept,” that is, crawled on their bellies. There were herbivores and carnivores, small and large; There were rodents, insectivores, felines, and elephants. It was during these long millions of years that the Earth was inhabited by giants - brontosaurs and atlantosaurs, their length measured in tens of meters, which could have used our three- and four-story houses as indoor furniture.

Compared to their oldest brothers - amphibians - reptiles of this era had a number of tangible advantages. They had strong scaly body coverings instead of the thin skin of frogs and newts 25 . Their brain was enriched with another floor - the paired nerve nucleus striatum(level CI in our designation), which headed the cores of level B of amphibians and fish and sharply increased their motor capabilities. Finally, their long-range sensory organs, telereceptors, have already begun to form for themselves the first, most ancient areas of brain formation of a very special structure. These were the rudiments of the cerebral cortex - the future cortex of the cerebral hemispheres, of which reptiles did not have a trace at that time, as they do not exist now. We have already briefly mentioned the enormous revolution that took place in the meaning and position of the brain with the advent of the cerebral cortex, and we will talk about this further. With the cerebral cortex, things went differently than in the distant past with the striated muscle. That one, as we saw, was determined immediately, and, instead of adjusting and polishing it to their needs, the owners of the muscle began to obediently adapt themselves to its difficult disposition - like Cinderella’s sisters, who cut off their toe, then their heel, so that they would fit royal shoe. In relation to the cerebral cortex, on the contrary, we find ourselves witnessing enormous preparatory work, preliminary intermediate forms, searches, etc. We know all this because the living history of the cortex has been preserved entirely in the brains of modern animals and in our own brain. In our (human) brain there are both the most ancient motor nuclei of levels A and B and the supreme nuclei of reptiles - striatum (level CI), only headed by much newer and more advanced brain superstructures; It also contains strange, “old-fashioned” areas of the cerebral cortex, very little similar in structure to how the largest part of it is structured. Examining the cerebral cortex of the human brain under a microscope, section by section, it is as if you are wandering through the various streets of a large, long-established city. And suddenly, on this walk, we find ourselves in a quarter built up with completely unusual buildings, in no way similar to the new parts of the city and breathing deep historical antiquity. This is approximately the impression produced by a microscopic view of the brain from the oldest parts of its cortex - the olfactory lobes and partly the visual area. These areas, directly connected to the main telereceptors of smell and vision, actually arose in the era of lizards, the first of the entire cortex, and were the primordial core around which the gigantic “city” of the human cerebral cortex grew over countless years.

The motor resources of the reptile are incomparably richer than the previous stage represented by fish: different types of lizards in their heyday could run, fly, swim, and jump. In addition to the variety of methods of locomotion, these animals, like their current descendants, were capable of slowing down and regulating their movements, in contrast to the ever-moving fish. They knew how to freeze in place, motionless, like statues, making a stance. They knew how to move slowly, viscously, as if in viscous dough, and knew how, when necessary, to rush like an arrow or make impetuous and accurate targeted throws. Finally, reptiles have excellent balance, and many of them (small snakes, especially lizards) cannot at times be denied real dexterity.

The meaning of reptiles. Most lizards and snakes, eating insects, rodents and terrestrial mollusks that harm agriculture, bring benefits to people. In some countries South America In South Asia and Africa, non-venomous snakes are kept instead of cats. In nature, reptiles exist in common system food connections: some eat plants, others eat animals (insects, amphibians, reptiles, small animals), and they, in turn, are eaten by other predators - birds of prey and animals.

Sometimes land turtles cause damage to melons, water snakes - to fish farms. Reptiles can spread pathogens to humans and domestic animals.

The bites of poisonous snakes are dangerous. However, studying the effect of snake venoms has made it possible to create valuable medicinal preparations based on them, which are used in the treatment of diseases of the respiratory organs, heart, and joints.

Large snakes and crocodiles are hunted for beautiful and durable leather. Sea turtles are hunted due to delicious meat. Due to overfishing, the numbers of many species have sharply declined, some are on the verge of extinction. Nature reserves have been created for them. The elephant tortoise, green tortoise, and komodo dragon, Cuban crocodile, gattperia.

Among reptiles there are herbivorous and insectivorous species. Most are predators. By eating plants, insects, amphibians, and small animals, reptiles regulate their numbers.

Modern reptiles descended from ancient amphibians - stegocephalians, who lived about 350-400 million years ago. Cotylosaurs, which existed 230-250 million years ago, are considered the most ancient of reptiles. Some features of their organization have been preserved in turtles.

The heyday of reptiles was the period from 250 to 65 million years ago. In those days, numerous reptiles lived on land and in water, and moved in the air (Fig. 153).

Rice. 153. Ancient reptiles: 1 - diplodocus; 2 - pteranodon; 3 - ceratosaurus; 4 - ichthyosaur

Flying lizards - pterodactyls, rhamphorhynchus, pteranodons - looked like giant bats. Their wingspan reached 10-12 m. Lizards resembling dolphins and seals lived in the water - ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs. These groups of ancient reptiles became extinct, leaving no descendants behind.

Among the ancient lizards there were two more groups that played an important role in the emergence of birds and mammals: dinosaurs and beast-like reptiles (Fig. 154).

Rice. 154. Animal-like beast-toothed reptile

Dinosaurs were a very diverse group: peaceful (herbivorous) and ferocious predators. Some walked on four legs, others only on two hind legs, in an upright position. Famous and very large dinosaurs- more than 30 m long, and small ones - the size of a small lizard. Diplodocus (27 m long and weighing about 10 tons), Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Seismosaurus are also considered the largest. They lived near bodies of water and stood in the water for a long time, eating aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation. Some dinosaurs had ridges on their backs that they used to capture solar energy. Scientists suggest that birds originated from one of the groups of dinosaurs.

Beast-like reptiles got their name for their resemblance to animals. So, unlike other lizards, their legs were not widely spaced: they were located under the body, and not on the sides. The teeth were divided (differentiated) into incisors, canines and molars. They had fleshy lips, and skin probably contained glands.

For 200 million years, the fate of dinosaurs and beast-like reptiles was different. Dinosaurs were favored by the warm, mild climate of that era, and they dominated everywhere. The beast-like creatures were few in number and invisible. Approximately 120-130 million years ago, the ratio of the number of species began to change in favor of animal-like ones.

The extinction of dinosaurs occurred as the planet's climate changed. About 130 million years ago, a long warm period was replaced by cooling. The vegetation began to change: angiosperms gradually spread.

There are many scientifically based hypotheses about the causes of the extinction of dinosaurs, for example, active mountain building and associated climate change. Perhaps a large asteroid passed near the Earth, influencing the climate and the natural environment surrounding dinosaurs.

Did the ancient lizards disappear from the face of the planet without a trace, leaving only monuments in the form of skeletons and prints? In the modern fauna of reptiles there is a hatteria, which is called a living fossil. The appearance of this animal has many ancient features: the remains of a shell on the body, the primitive structure of the spine, and an additional parietal eye. This reptile lives on small islands off New Zealand and is strictly protected as a “living natural monument.” Turtles are close to their Mesozoic ancestors. In some organizational features, crocodiles are close to dinosaurs.

Lizards and snakes also have some similarities with dinosaurs. But if lizards are a fairly ancient group, then snakes appeared only at the end of the warm period on Earth before the cold snap, when their related groups lost their former greatness.

Reptiles descended from ancient amphibians - stegocephalians. The most ancient reptiles are cotylosaurs. A variety of ancient reptiles inhabited the land, aquatic environment, lived in the air and flourished for 200 million years. Modern reptiles, birds and mammals evolved from ancient reptiles.

Exercises based on the material covered

1. What is the importance of reptiles in nature and in human life?
2. What animals did reptiles come from? When did the ancestors of modern reptiles live?
3. Name the animals that belong to the ancient lizards. Which of them gave rise to ancient birds and mammals?
4. What living environments did ancient reptiles master? Why did they go extinct?
5. Why is hatteria called a living fossil?

The Mesozoic era began approximately 250 and ended 65 million years ago. It lasted 185 million years. The Mesozoic era is divided into the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods with a total duration of 173 million years. The deposits of these periods constitute the corresponding systems, which together form the Mesozoic group.

The Mesozoic is known primarily as the era of dinosaurs. These giant reptiles overshadow all other groups of living beings. But you shouldn’t forget about others. After all, the Mesozoic was the time when real mammals, birds, flowering plants– the modern biosphere was actually formed. And if in the first period of the Mesozoic - the Triassic, there were still many animals on Earth from Paleozoic groups that were able to survive the Permian catastrophe, then in the last period - the Cretaceous, almost all those families that flourished in the Cenozoic era had already formed.

The Mesozoic era was a transitional period in development earth's crust and life. It can be called the geological and biological Middle Ages.
The beginning of the Mesozoic era coincided with the end of the Variscan mountain-building processes; it ended with the beginning of the last powerful tectonic revolution - the Alpine folding. IN Southern Hemisphere in the Mesozoic, the collapse of the ancient continent of Gondwana was completed, but in general the Mesozoic era here was an era of relative calm, only occasionally and briefly disrupted by light folding.

The progressive flora of gymnosperms (Gymnospermae) became widespread already from the beginning of the Late Permian era. The early stage of development of the plant kingdom - paleophyte, was characterized by the dominance of algae, psilophytes and seed ferns. The rapid development of more highly developed gymnosperms, which characterizes the “plant Middle Ages” (mesophyte), began in the Late Permian era and ended at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous era, when the first angiosperms, or flowering plants (Angiospermae), began to spread. The Cenophyte, the modern period of development of the plant kingdom, began in the Late Cretaceous.

The appearance of gymnosperms was important milestone in the evolution of plants. The fact is that earlier Paleozoic spore-bearing plants needed water or, at least, a humid environment for their reproduction. This made their resettlement quite difficult. The development of seeds allowed plants to lose such close dependence on water. The ovules could now be fertilized by pollen carried by the wind or insects, and water thus did not predetermine more reproduction. In addition, unlike a single-celled spore with its relatively small supply of nutrients, the seed has a multicellular structure and is able to provide food to a young plant for a longer period of time. early stages development. Under unfavorable conditions, the seed can remain viable for a long time. Having a durable shell, it reliably protects the embryo from external dangers. All these advantages gave seed plants good chances in the struggle for existence. The ovule (ovum) of the first seed plants was unprotected and developed on special leaves; the seed that emerged from it also did not have an outer shell. This is why these plants were called gymnosperms.

Among the most numerous and most curious gymnosperms of the beginning of the Mesozoic era we find the Cycas, or sago. Their stems were straight and columnar, similar to tree trunks, or short and tuberous; they bore large, long and usually feathery leaves
(for example, the genus Pterophyllum, whose name means “feathery leaves”). Outwardly, they looked like tree ferns or palm trees.
In addition to the cycads, great importance in the mesophyte they acquired Bennettitales, represented by trees or shrubs. They mostly resemble true cycads, but their seed begins to develop a tough shell, which gives Bennettites an angiosperm-like appearance. There are other signs of adaptation of Bennettites to conditions of a drier climate.

In the Triassic, new forms came to the fore. Conifers are spreading quickly, and among them are fir, cypress, and yew. Among the ginkgos, the genus Baiera has become widespread. The leaves of these plants had the shape of a fan-shaped plate, deeply dissected into narrow lobes. Ferns have taken over damp, shady places along the banks of small bodies of water (Hausmannia and other Dipteraidae). Forms that grow on rocks (Gleicheniacae) are also known among ferns. Horsetails (Equisetites, Phyllotheca, Schizoneura) grew in the swamps, but did not reach the size of their Paleozoic ancestors.
In the middle mesophyte (Jurassic period), the mesophytic flora reached the culmination point of its development. The hot tropical climate in what is now the temperate zone was ideal for tree ferns to thrive, while smaller fern species and herbaceous plants preferred the temperate zone. Among the plants of this time, gymnosperms continue to play a dominant role
(primarily cycads).

The Cretaceous period is marked by rare changes in vegetation. The flora of the Lower Cretaceous still resembles in composition the vegetation of the Jurassic period. Gymnosperms are still widespread, but their dominance ends at the end of this time. Even in the Lower Cretaceous, the most progressive plants suddenly appeared - angiosperms, the predominance of which characterizes the era of new plant life, or Cenophyte.

Angiosperms, or flowering plants (Angiospermae), occupy the highest level of the evolutionary ladder flora. Their seeds are enclosed in a durable shell; there are specialized reproductive organs (stamen and pistil) assembled into a flower with bright petals and a calyx. Flowering plants appear somewhere in the first half of the Cretaceous period, most likely in a cold and dry mountain climate with large temperature differences.
With the gradual cooling that marked the Cretaceous, they captured more and more new areas on the plains. Quickly adapting to their new environment, they evolved at amazing speed. Fossils of the first true angiosperms are found in the Lower Cretaceous rocks of Western Greenland, and a little later also in Europe and Asia. In a relatively short time, they spread throughout the Earth and reached great diversity.

From the end of the Early Cretaceous era, the balance of forces began to change in favor of angiosperms, and by the beginning of the Upper Cretaceous their superiority became widespread. Cretaceous angiosperms belonged to the evergreen, tropical or subtropical types, among them were eucalyptus, magnolia, sassafras, tulip trees, Japanese quince trees, brown laurels, walnut trees, plane trees, and oleanders. These heat-loving trees coexisted with typical flora temperate zone: oaks, beeches, willows, birches. This flora also included gymnosperms conifers (sequoias, pines, etc.).

For gymnosperms, this was a time of surrender. Some species have survived to this day, but their total numbers have been declining all these centuries. A definite exception is conifers, which are still found in abundance today.
In the Mesozoic, plants made a great leap forward, surpassing animals in terms of development rates.

Mesozoic invertebrates were already approaching modern ones in character. A prominent place among them was occupied by cephalopods, to which modern squids and octopuses belong. The Mesozoic representatives of this group included ammonites with a shell twisted into a “ram’s horn”, and belemnites, the inner shell of which was cigar-shaped and overgrown with the flesh of the body - the mantle. Belemnite shells are popularly known as “devil’s fingers.” Ammonites were found in such numbers in the Mesozoic that their shells are found in almost all marine sediments of this time. Ammonites appeared in the Silurian, they experienced their first flowering in the Devonian, but reached their highest diversity in the Mesozoic. In the Triassic alone, over 400 new genera of ammonites arose. Particularly characteristic of the Triassic were ceratids, which were widespread in the Upper Triassic marine basin of Central Europe, the deposits of which in Germany are known as shell limestone.

By the end of the Triassic, most ancient groups of ammonites died out, but representatives of the Phylloceratida survived in Tethys, the giant Mesozoic Mediterranean Sea. This group developed so rapidly in the Jurassic that the ammonites of this time surpassed the Triassic in the variety of forms. During the Cretaceous, cephalopods, both ammonites and belemnites, remained numerous, but during the Late Cretaceous the number of species in both groups began to decline. Among the ammonites at this time, aberrant forms with an incompletely twisted hook-shaped shell (Scaphites), with a shell elongated in a straight line (Baculites) and with an irregularly shaped shell (Heteroceras) appeared. These aberrant forms appeared, apparently, as a result of changes in the course individual development and narrow specialization. The terminal Upper Cretaceous forms of some branches of ammonites are distinguished by sharply increased shell sizes. In the genus Parapachydiscus, for example, the shell diameter reaches 2.5 m.

The mentioned belemnites also acquired great importance in the Mesozoic. Some of their genera, for example, Actinocamax and Belenmitella, are important fossils and are successfully used for stratigraphic division and accurate determination of the age of marine sediments.
At the end of the Mesozoic, all ammonites and belemnites became extinct. Of the cephalopods with an external shell, only the genus Nautilus has survived to this day. More widespread in modern seas are forms with internal shells - octopuses, cuttlefish and squids, distantly related to belemnites.
The Mesozoic era was a time of unstoppable expansion of vertebrates. Of the Paleozoic fishes, only a few transitioned into the Mesozoic, as did the genus Xenacanthus, the last representative of the freshwater sharks of the Paleozoic, known from freshwater sediments of the Australian Triassic. Sea sharks continued to evolve throughout the Mesozoic; Most modern genera were already represented in the Cretaceous seas, in particular, Carcharias, Carcharodon, lsurus, etc.

Ray-finned fish, which arose at the end of the Silurian, initially lived only in freshwater reservoirs, but with the Permian they began to enter the seas, where they multiplied unusually and from the Triassic to the present day they retained a dominant position.
Reptiles became most widespread in the Mesozoic, becoming truly the dominant class of this era. In the course of evolution, a variety of genera and species of reptiles appeared, often of very impressive size. Among them were the largest and most bizarre land animals the earth has ever bore. As already mentioned, according to the anatomical structure ancient reptiles were close to labyrinthodonts. The oldest and most primitive reptiles were the clumsy cotylosaurs (Cotylosauria), which appeared already at the beginning of the Middle Carboniferous and became extinct by the end of the Triassic. Among cotylosaurs, both small animal-eating and relatively large herbivorous forms (pareiasaurs) are known. The descendants of cotylosaurs gave rise to the entire diversity of the reptile world. One of the most interesting groups reptiles that developed from cotylosaurs were animal-like (Synapsida, or Theromorpha), their primitive representatives (pelycosaurs) have been known since the end of the Middle Carboniferous. In the mid-Permian period, pelycosaurs, known mainly from North America, are dying out, but in the Old World they are replaced by more progressive forms that form the order Therapsida.
The predatory theriodonts (Theriodontia) included in it are already very similar to primitive mammals, and it is no coincidence - it was from them that the first mammals developed by the end of the Triassic.

During Triassic period many new groups of reptiles appeared. These are turtles, and are well adapted to sea ​​life ichthyosaurs (“fish lizards”), outwardly resembling dolphins, and placodonts, clumsy armored animals with powerful flattened teeth adapted for crushing shells, and also plesiosaurs that lived in the seas, having a relatively small head, a more or less elongated neck, a wide body, flipper-like pairs limbs and short tail; Plesiosaurs vaguely resemble giant shellless turtles. In the Jurassic, plesiosaurs, like ichthyosaurs, reached their peak. Both of these groups remained very numerous into the Early Cretaceous, being extremely characteristic predators of the Mesozoic seas.
From an evolutionary point of view, one of the most important groups of Mesozoic reptiles were thecodonts, small predatory reptiles of the Triassic period, which gave rise to the most diverse groups - crocodiles, dinosaurs, flying lizards, and, finally, birds.

However, the most remarkable group of Mesozoic reptiles were the well-known dinosaurs. They developed from thecodonts back in the Triassic and took a dominant position on Earth in the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Dinosaurs are represented by two groups, completely separate - saurischia (Saurischia) and ornithischia (Ornithischia). In the Jurassic, real monsters could be found among dinosaurs, up to 25-30 m long (including tail) and weighing up to 50 tons. Of these giants, the best known forms are Brontosaurus, Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus. And in the Cretaceous period the evolutionary progress of dinosaurs continued. Among the European dinosaurs of this time, bipedal iguanodonts are widely known; in America, four-legged horned dinosaurs (Triceratops) Styracosaurus, etc.), somewhat reminiscent of modern rhinoceroses, became widespread. Also interesting are the relatively small armored dinosaurs (Ankylosauria), covered with a massive bony shell. All named forms were herbivores, as well as giant duck-billed dinosaurs (Anatosaurus, Trachodon, etc.), which walked on two legs. In the Cretaceous, predatory dinosaurs also flourished, the most remarkable of which were such forms as Tyrannosaurus rex, whose length exceeded 15 m, Gorgosaurus and Tarbosaurus. All of these forms, which turned out to be the greatest land predatory animals in the entire history of the Earth, walked on two legs.

At the end of the Triassic, the thecodonts also gave rise to the first crocodiles, which became abundant only in the Jurassic period (Steneosaurus and others). In the Jurassic period, flying lizards appeared - pterosaurs (Pterosauria), also descended from thecodonts.
Among the flying dinosaurs of the Jurassic, the most famous are Rhamphorhynchus and Pterodactylus; among the Cretaceous forms, the most interesting is the relatively very large Pteranodon. Flying lizards became extinct by the end of the Cretaceous.
In the Cretaceous seas, giant predatory mosasaurian lizards, exceeding 10 m in length, became widespread. Among modern lizards, they are closest to monitor lizards, but differ from them, in particular, in their flipper-like limbs. By the end of the Cretaceous, the first snakes (Ophidia) appeared, apparently descended from lizards that led a burrowing lifestyle.
Towards the end of the Cretaceous comes mass extinction characteristic Mesozoic groups of reptiles, including dinosaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and mosasaurs.

Representatives of the class of birds (Aves) first appear in Jurassic deposits. The remains of Archaeopteryx, the well-known and so far only known first bird, were found in lithographic shales of the Upper Jurassic, near the Bavarian city of Solnhofen (Germany). During the Cretaceous period, the evolution of birds proceeded at a rapid pace; The characteristic genera of this time were Ichthyornis and Hesperornis, which still had serrated jaws.

The first mammals (Mattalia), modest animals no larger than a mouse, descended from animal-like reptiles in the Late Triassic. Throughout the Mesozoic they remained few in number and by the end of the era the original genera were largely extinct. The most ancient group of mammals were the triconodonts (Triconodonta), to which the most famous of the Triassic mammals, Morganucodon, belongs. Appears in the Jurassic
a number of new groups of mammals - Symmetrodonta, Docodonta, Multituberculata and Eupantotheria. Of all the named groups, only the Multituberculata survived the Mesozoic, the last representative of which died out in the Eocene. Polytuberculates were the most specialized of the Mesozoic mammals, convergently they had some similarities with rodents. The ancestors of the main groups of modern mammals - marsupials (Marsupialia) and placentals (Placentalia) were Eupantotheria. Both marsupials and placentals appeared in the Late Cretaceous. The most ancient group of placentals are insectivores (insectivora), which have survived to this day.

Reptiles (reptiles) are, as it were, the next “step” after amphibians in the development of the animal world. They were the first of the vertebrates to adapt to life away from water. In total, about 6 thousand species of reptiles live on Earth. It seems like a lot. But in fact, modern reptiles are only a small fragment of the huge kingdom of ancient lizards that inhabited the Earth in distant geological times.

The first ancient reptiles (from the group of cotylosaurs), similar to our turtles, appeared 250 million years ago, at the end of the Carboniferous and in Permian period Paleozoic era. At that time, the climate on Earth changed from humid to drier and moisture-loving amphibians could not populate the vast expanses of the earth’s land. Ancient reptiles, whose skin was covered with dense horny scutes, were not afraid of the hot rays of the sun and spread widely across the Earth. Their heyday dates back to the Mesozoic era. All this time, ancient lizards reigned supreme among vertebrates. They inhabited land (herbivorous dinosaurs - iguanodons, stegosaurs and carnivores - tyrannosaurs, etc.), ancient seas (ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, etc.). They even adapted to flight (pterodactyls). Ancient lizards are the largest land animals known on our planet. For example, the brontosaurus reached a length of 20 m, and the sauropod - 30 m.

At the end of the Mesozoic era, apparently due to changes in climate and other conditions, ancient reptiles began to die out. They gave way to more adaptable warm-blooded animals - mammals and birds.

Modern reptiles belong to 4 orders: turtles, beaked reptiles, scaly reptiles and crocodiles. Turtles come from the most ancient lizards - the Permian cotylosaurs. They inhabit mainly the tropics. Of the 210 species of modern turtles, 6 species are found in Russia. Only one species belongs to the beaked order - the New Zealand tuatara, or tuatara. This is the oldest group of modern reptiles, appearing 165 million years ago. The squamate order is the largest. It includes chameleons, lizards, amphisbaenus, and snakes. The order of crocodiles includes 21 species.

What structural features and lifestyle distinguish reptiles? Their skin is not bare, like that of amphibians, but is usually covered with horny scales or scutes that protect it from drying out. Therefore, reptiles can live even in deserts. The heart of reptiles is still three-chambered, like that of amphibians (two atria and one ventricle), but the ventricle already has a partial (and in crocodiles, a complete) septum. Body temperature is not constant: it depends, like in amphibians, on temperature environment. Therefore, reptiles are found mainly in hot countries, and only a few have adapted to life in temperate latitudes. Reptiles breathe only with their lungs (amphibians also breathe with their skin). This also helps them survive in dry areas.

All reptiles, even those living in water (crocodiles, sea snakes and turtles), reproduce on land. They bury their eggs in the ground or sand, if possible so that they are warmed by the sun. Some lizards (geckos, some agamas and iguanas) lay their eggs in rock cracks or under the bark of trees. Crocodiles lay them in the soil or in nests made of dry leaves or grass. Reptile eggs have dense shells: soft, elastic - in snakes and lizards, or hard, calcareous - in turtles and crocodiles.

The rate of development of embryos in eggs can change sharply depending on the ambient temperature: warm - and they develop more quickly by 2–3 times; cold - their development is delayed by the same amount. Snakes have only one clutch per year, while lizards and turtles have 3–4 clutches. In the tropics, where there are many animals that eat eggs, parents guard the clutch (crocodiles, cobras, some boa constrictors). In reptiles that have adapted to life in temperate latitudes, where there is less heat, the so-called ovoviviparity has arisen: the eggs are retained inside the mother’s body until the young hatch from them. Such, for example, are our viviparous lizard and the common viper.

Reptiles eat differently. Among them there are herbivorous, insectivorous, piscivorous and carnivorous species. Most lizards and some snakes (for example, the steppe viper) feed on insects. Common lizards of our latitudes - viviparous, snapping - also eat arachnids and mollusks. The most large lizards- monitor lizards - in addition to insects, they catch birds and rodents.

Most snakes feed mainly on vertebrates. The common grass snake catches amphibians; water snake and sea turtles - fish; snakes, vipers, efa - mouse-like rodents; arrow-snake - lizards. Large boas also attack animals such as monkeys and small ungulates. Non-venomous snakes they swallow prey alive (for example, snakes - frogs) or first strangle it, wrapping themselves in rings around the body. Poisonous snakes first kill the victim by rushing at it and sinking its poisonous teeth into it, and then swallowing it whole.

Most reptiles are active and dexterous hunters. They themselves search for prey, using hearing and sight (monitor lizards, lizards, foot-and-mouth lizards, geckos, skinks) or mainly by touch (snake, arrow-snake, cobra, epha, copperhead). The lizards are agamas and round-headed lizards, and among the snakes the viper and boa constrictors lie in wait for prey.

The least number of herbivorous reptiles. These include almost all land turtles. Some lizards, such as tropical agamas and iguanas, also eat plants. Among our lizards, agamas sometimes feed on the fruits and flowers of plants, and the long-legged skink readily eats mulberry fruits.

The keratinized skin and other structural features allowed the reptiles to live both in deserts and in sea water, so they are very widespread - in all natural areas Lands other than tundra and polar deserts. They cannot settle to the north, since their body temperature depends on the temperature of the environment and warmth is necessary for the development of young in eggs. All reptiles feel good only at a certain temperature, specific to each species, usually 20–40 °C.

If the temperature is above 40 °C, as is often the case in deserts, reptiles may die from overheating. Therefore, during the day they hide in holes or in the shade, climb onto the branches of bushes, away from the hot soil.

Among our reptiles, almost all species are diurnal: during the day, in the sun, it is warmer. Only small lizards, geckos, are nocturnal animals. When hunting at night, the skink gecko, in order to keep warm, from time to time buries itself in the still warm sand.

When the body cools down to 6–8 °C heat, reptiles stop moving and fall into torpor. Therefore, in our latitudes most they spend years in hibernation, usually alone or in groups of 2–3 individuals. Our vipers overwinter in balls, sometimes consisting of several dozen snakes, and snakes - of several hundred and even thousands of individuals. Typically, reptiles overwinter in soil cracks, rodent burrows, caves, and swamp turtles - at the bottom of reservoirs.

Reptiles have many interesting protective devices. Many of them have patronizing connotation, and so perfect that it can be almost impossible to see a motionless animal. Chameleons can quickly change color depending on the color of the background: among gray rocks they are gray, among green leaves they are green, etc. Lizards are able to discard part of the tail, which continues to wriggle in the teeth of the predator, and the lizard itself manages to escape.

Most lizards and snakes are of great benefit, destroying many harmful insects, mollusks and rodents. Central Asian turtles can damage melons, spoil irrigation canals, and the water snake can cause harm at fish-breeding stations by eating the fry of valuable fish. However, this harm is significant only if there are a lot of turtles, which happens very rarely. Poisonous snakes a lot in Central Asia, and people are often bitten there. However deaths from snake bites are very rare. The use of medicinal serums has sharply reduced this danger. And we must remember: a snake never attacks a person first.

Nowadays, snake venom is increasingly used to prepare many medicines and medicinal serums. There are very few poisonous snakes left in nature, many of them (Central Asian cobra, Caucasian, long-nosed and Asia Minor vipers) are included in the Red Books. Therefore, those species of snakes whose venom is needed in medicine are kept in special nurseries.