The Chesapeake Bay watershed is home to many species of reptiles and amphibians. Reptiles are air-breathing vertebrates that have scaly skin and spend much of their time on land.
Most species have a three-chambered heart.
The class Reptilia includes turtles, snakes, alligators, lizards and crocodiles. Amphibians are cold-blooded vertebrates without scales that evolved from fishes and live on land and in water. In the Bay ecosystem, the most common reptiles are turtles and snakes, primitive relatives of the birds. Turtles are the only reptiles that do not have teeth and that have hard carapaces. It feeds on soft clams, snails, crabs and the roots of submerged plants.