Fascinating Reptile Facts

Australia’s most endangered reptile is the Western Swamp Turtle.

Australia’s largest snake is the Amethyst Python.

A reptile draws air into its lungs by expanding its ribs.

A female turtle can fertilise several batches of eggs with sperm she has stored in her body after one mating. 

The Fitzroy Turtle breathes through the rear end of its digestive system.

The Gould’s Monitor or Perentie is the largest Australian lizard.

A gecko licks its eyes to clean them.

Some geckos squirt fluid from their tails at attackers.

Male dragons leave scent signals for other dragons to read with their tongues.

Desert dragons avoid becoming overheated by hiding in burrows or under bushes, stand on tiptoe or raise a foot from the ground.

Male monitors settle disputes by lashing their tails at each other and wrestling.

The sole food of the Thorny Devil is ants.

One of a snake’s lungs is bigger than the other and does most of the breathing.

A snake can disconnect the halves of its lower jaw and many of its skull bones can move back and forth on each other.  It walks the prey into its mouth, using each half of its lower jaw in turn.

The pits along the jaw of some pythons are heat-sensitive and allow the snake to track its prey.

Pythons kill their prey by constriction.  They squeeze it with their muscular bodies.  Each time the prey breathes out, they tighten their coils.

A fang is a hollow tooth through which venom can be forced into prey.

The Taipan and the Inland Taipan have the most potent venom, and the Mulga Sanke has the greatest amount of venom of all Australian snakes.

Some snakes give birth to live young.