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nnPeople who love reptiles ask everybodynto give these creatures a good hard look every year. You can do yournpart by exploring reptiles “in the flesh” by going to a zoo ornpet store (is there a Prehistoric Pets store in your area? …theynspecialize in reptiles!), or through books or videos.
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nnHere is a “Bill Nye the Science Guy”nepisode on reptiles.n (There are three parts, totaling around 20 or 30 minutes.)
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nnHere is BBC’s Life, with DavidnAttenborough,nabout reptiles and amphibians. (This is about an hour long.)
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nWerendinosaurs reptiles? And are birds dinosaurs? Wait, birds can’t benreptiles…Or can they?
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nnAccordingnto several sources I consulted, there is evidence that somendinosaurs, at least, were warm-blooded. People used to definenreptiles partly by the fact that they are cold-blooded… but that isnno longer part of the description of reptiles.
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nnAnnew system of classification states that reptiles include turtles,ncrocodiles, snakes, lizards and tuataras, and dinosaurs. In thisnsystem, birds are considered a subset of dinosaurs…so they are ansubset of the reptile group. Here is a pretty easy-to-understandnarticle about birds being one sort of reptiles.
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nnOnnthe other hand, at least one classification system say that dinosaurs andnbirds are not in the reptile group. In this system, it would be morencorrect to say that dinosaurs, including birds, evolved fromnreptiles.
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nnChecknoutnthe Reptile Channel’s page on Reptile Awareness Day. n
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