Reptiles

Aldabra giant tortoise

Aldabrachelys gigantea

The Aldabra giant tortoise is one of the world's largest tortoises, living over 100 years on a remote Seychelles atoll. Size, diet, tortoise turf and status.

Alligator snapping turtle

Macrochelys temminckii

The alligator snapping turtle is North America's largest freshwater turtle. Facts on its ridged shell, worm-like tongue lure, size, lifespan, range and threats.

ENEndangered

American alligator

Alligator mississippiensis

The American alligator is a large crocodilian of southeastern US wetlands. Facts on its size, diet, nesting, gator holes and its comeback from near extinction.

American crocodile

Crocodylus acutus

The American crocodile lives in coastal mangroves from south Florida to Peru and Venezuela. Facts on its size, salt tolerance, nesting and Florida recovery.

Black mamba

Dendroaspis polylepis

The black mamba is Africa's longest venomous snake, usually 2–3 m long and gray-brown, not black. Facts on its size, real speed, habitat, diet and venom.

Boa constrictor

Boa constrictor

The boa constrictor is a large, nonvenomous snake of tropical America, usually 1.8–3 m long. Facts on its size, red tail, habitat, diet, birth and taxonomy.

Burmese python

Python bivittatus

The Burmese python is a giant constrictor of Southeast Asia that can top 5 m. Facts on size, ambush hunting, egg brooding and its invasion of the Everglades.

Central bearded dragon

Pogona vitticeps

The central bearded dragon is a spiny Australian lizard of dry woodland and desert. Facts on its size, beard display, arm-waving, diet, breeding and range.

Common European adder

Vipera berus

The European adder is Britain's only venomous snake and the world's most widespread viper. Facts on its zigzag pattern, size, habitat, venom and life cycle.

Common garter snake

Thamnophis sirtalis

The common garter snake is a striped, harmless snake found across most of North America. Facts on its size, color forms, diet, live birth and winter dens.

Common snapping turtle

Chelydra serpentina

The common snapping turtle is a big, rough-shelled freshwater turtle of North America. Facts on its size, powerful bite, diet, nesting, lifespan and range.

Copperhead

Agkistrodon contortrix

The copperhead is a camouflaged pit viper of the eastern US. How to identify its hourglass bands, plus its size, range, diet, live young and real bite risk.

Corn snake

Pantherophis guttatus

The corn snake is a harmless orange-red rat snake of the southeastern US, usually 0.6–1.2 m long. Facts on its colors, range, habitat, diet, eggs and lifespan.

Cottonmouth

Agkistrodon piscivorus

The cottonmouth, or water moccasin, is a venomous semi-aquatic pit viper of the southeastern US. Its size, white-mouth display, fish diet, live young and range.

Eastern box turtle

Terrapene carolina

The eastern box turtle is a small land turtle of eastern US woods that can shut its hinged shell tight and may live 100 years. Size, diet, range and threats.

Eastern coral snake

Micrurus fulvius

The eastern coral snake is a shy, venomous elapid of the southeastern US. Its red, yellow and black rings, size, range, snake-eating diet, eggs and real risk.

Eastern diamondback rattlesnake

Crotalus adamanteus

The eastern diamondback is the largest rattlesnake: a heavy pit viper of southeastern US pine forests. Size, diamond pattern, diet, birth, venom and decline.

Galápagos giant tortoise

Chelonoidis niger

The Galápagos giant tortoise is the largest living tortoise and can live over 100 years. Island forms, domed and saddleback shells, size, diet and recovery.

Gharial

Gavialis gangeticus

The gharial is a Critically Endangered, fish-eating crocodilian of northern India and Nepal. Its thin snout, the male's ghara, river life, nesting and recovery.

CRCritically Endangered

Gila monster

Heloderma suspectum

The Gila monster is a slow, venomous lizard of the US Southwest and Mexico with beaded pink and black skin. Size, venom, diet, habitat, lifespan and protection.

NTNear Threatened

Grass snake

Natrix natrix

The grass snake is Europe's harmless, water-loving snake with a yellow collar. Its size, frog diet, compost-heap eggs, playing dead and the 2017 species split.

Green anaconda

Eunectes murinus

The green anaconda is the world's heaviest snake, a giant boa of South American swamps and rivers. Facts on its size, hunting, breeding balls and live birth.

Green iguana

Iguana iguana

The green iguana is a large, plant-eating tree lizard of Central and South America that can top 1.5 m. Size, colors, diet, swimming, nesting and lifespan.

Green sea turtle

Chelonia mydas

The green sea turtle is a large, plant-eating sea turtle of warm seas, named for its green body fat. Its size, seagrass diet, migrations, nesting and status.

Hawksbill sea turtle

Eretmochelys imbricata

The hawksbill is a Critically Endangered reef turtle with a hawk-like beak and a richly patterned shell. Its size, sponge diet, nesting, range and main threats.

CRCritically Endangered

Inland taipan

Oxyuranus microlepidotus

The inland taipan has the most toxic snake venom in mouse tests, yet it is shy and rarely seen. Size, color change, outback range, rat diet and real risk.

King cobra

Ophiophagus hannah

The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake, usually 3–4 m long. Facts on its size, hood and growl, snake-eating diet, nests, range and status.

Komodo dragon

Varanus komodoensis

The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard, found only on a few Indonesian islands. Facts on its size, hunting, venom, virgin births and Endangered status.

ENEndangered

Leatherback sea turtle

Dermochelys coriacea

The leatherback is the largest living turtle, with a leathery shell, a jellyfish diet and dives past 1,000 m. Facts on size, migrations, nesting and threats.

Leopard gecko

Eublepharis macularius

The leopard gecko is a spotted, ground-dwelling gecko of dry grassland and rocky hills in South Asia. Wild facts on its eyelids, fat tail, diet and breeding.

Loggerhead sea turtle

Caretta caretta

The loggerhead is a big-headed, Vulnerable sea turtle that crushes crabs and whelks with huge jaws. Its size, diet, ocean migrations, nesting and threats.

Marine iguana

Amblyrhynchus cristatus

The marine iguana is the only lizard that feeds in the sea, diving for algae off the Galápagos. Size, salt-sneezing, El Niño famines and Vulnerable status.

Nile crocodile

Crocodylus niloticus

The Nile crocodile is Africa's largest reptile and second-largest crocodile. Its size, range, hunting, nesting, danger to people and the West African split.

Northern water snake

Nerodia sipedon

The northern water snake is a harmless banded snake of ponds and streams in eastern North America. Its size, range, fish diet, live young and cottonmouth ID.

Panther chameleon

Furcifer pardalis

The panther chameleon is Madagascar's most colorful chameleon. Facts on its color forms, rival displays, tongue, eyes, size, short wild life and breeding.

Reticulated python

Malayopython reticulatus

The reticulated python of Southeast Asia is the world's longest snake, measured at almost 7 m in the wild. Facts on its size, net-like pattern, diet and range.

Saltwater crocodile

Crocodylus porosus

The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile. Its size, range from India to Australia, life at sea, hunting, nesting, recovery and the risk to people.

Slow worm

Anguis fragilis

The slow worm is a harmless legless lizard, not a snake. Facts on its size, eyelids, range in Europe and Britain, slug diet, live young and very long life.

Thorny devil

Moloch horridus

The thorny devil is a small, spike-covered lizard of Australia's deserts that eats only ants and drinks through grooves in its skin. Size, range and defenses.

Timber rattlesnake

Crotalus horridus

The timber rattlesnake is a large, calm pit viper of eastern US forests. Facts on its color phases, size, range, winter dens, slow breeding and protection.

Tuatara

Sphenodon punctatus

The tuatara is a New Zealand reptile that is not a lizard but the last of an ancient order. Its third eye, teeth, island burrows, slow growth and 100-year life.

Veiled chameleon

Chamaeleo calyptratus

The veiled chameleon is a large, casque-headed chameleon from Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Facts on its casque, colors, tongue, eyes, eggs, lifespan and range.

Western diamondback rattlesnake

Crotalus atrox

The western diamondback is the big coon-tailed rattlesnake of the US Southwest and Mexico. Size, ID, desert habitat, rodent diet, dens, behavior and venom.