A cold-blooded vertebrate with dry, scaly skin that lays amniotic eggs (usually with leathery shells) and breathes air through lungs throughout its life cycle. This group includes snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodilians.
From Latin 'reptilis' meaning 'creeping,' from 'repere' meaning 'to creep or crawl.' The term was used by early naturalists to describe these ground-dwelling animals, though many reptiles actually don't creep at all.
Reptiles were evolution's first truly waterproof vertebrates - their scaly skin and shelled eggs meant they could finally cut the umbilical cord to water! This independence allowed them to colonize dry environments and become the dominant land animals for over 150 million years during the age of dinosaurs.
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