Like other reptiles, most female lizards lay eggs, which they bury in the soil or hide under rocks until ready to hatch. They live inside an armoured shell of bony plates. So effective is the protection the shell gives that chelonians have no need to move fast. Most chelonians live in warm parts of the world and some hibernate in winter if brought to a cold country. There are both land and sea species.
Chelonians eat both plants and animals, but they have no teeth - just jaws with very sharp edges.
Greek tortoises and Hermann's tortoises were once so popular as pets that they are now very rare in the wild. Crocodiles and alligators Crocodiles are found in freshwater all over the tropics. The biggest crocodile of all, though, is the saltwater crocodile of Indonesia, which grows to over 8m. Crocodiles, alligators, caymans and gharials are together called crocodilians. Creatures very like them lived 200 million years ago.