Reptiles: Meanings Of TermsWhen reading about reptiles I find a lot of heavy language being used. If you're not familiar with a word, the information may make no sense at all. For this reason I am putting together definitions of common and not so common terms associated with these animals. Just click on the alphabetical links below to find the term you want. AAnapsidThis simply means "without apsids", where an apsid is a hole in the skull in a specific place (see below). The Anapsid reptiles were a very successful group in ancient times, before the appearance of the earliest dinosaurs. Now the only living member of this group are the turtles and their land dwelling cousins the tortoises.ApsidThis word means "hole in the skull". Another word for apsid is fenestra, but apsid tends to have a far more specific meaning. Apsids are located between specific bones in the skull and are used as a primary means of identifying fossil reptiles as belonging to one group or another.CConvergent EvolutionThis is where the environment causes animals from different backgrounds to evolve either similar forms or similar ways of doing things. Read more about convergent evolution.HHerpetologyThis is the study of reptiles. The abbreviation "Herp" is often given to reptiles. A person who studies reptiles is called a herpetologist. There are few if any University courses specializing in reptile study. Most Herpetologists are either enthusiastic amateurs or have moved into the field from general biology studies in tertiary education.Tortoises are basically land dwelling turtles. They are usually characterised by having high domes shells and stumpy elephant like legs covered with heavy scales. A good example is the . Smaller species are often kept as pets as they are easier to manage than most pet herps. Read more about pet tortoises. I am using the word turtle to mean any of those shelled creatures that live either partially or fully in water. This includes river turtles, terrapins and sea turtles. I am using the word tortoise for the members of this family that live exclusively on land. Return from Definitions to the Reptiles Home Page.
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