page_title: Fauna of Scotland
section_title: Amphibians and land reptiles
hierarchical_section_title: Fauna of Scotland / Amphibians and land reptiles
caption_attribution_description: English: Vipera berus (photography made in Pieniny)
context_page_description: The fauna of Scotland is generally typical of the northwest European part of the Palearctic realm, although several of the country's larger mammals were hunted to extinction in historic times and human activity has also led to various species of wildlife being introduced. Scotland's diverse temperate environments support 62 species of wild mammals, including a population of wild cats, important numbers of grey and harbour seals and the most northerly colony of bottlenose dolphins in the world.
  Many populations of moorland birds, including the black and red grouse live here, and the country has internationally significant nesting grounds for seabirds such as the northern gannet. The golden eagle has become a national icon, and white-tailed eagles and ospreys have recently re-colonised the land. The Scottish crossbill is the only endemic vertebrate species in the UK.
  Scotland's seas are among the most biologically productive in the world; it is estimated that the total number of Scottish marine species exceeds 40,000. The Darwin Mounds are an important area of deep sea cold water coral reefs discovered in 1998.
context_section_description: Only six amphibians and four land reptiles are native to Scotland. The amphibians include three species of newt: the great crested, of which fewer than 1,000 individuals survive; the smooth, and the palmate. The other amphibians are the common toad, the natterjack toad, found in only four locations in the south-west, and the common frog. A single alien amphibian is known in Scotland, the Alpine newt, a recent escapee confined to the Edinburgh area.
  The reptiles include the adder and the grass snake, the slowworm, which is a legless lizard, and the common lizard. Smooth snakes, found elsewhere in the UK are absent, and grass snakes are rarely reported.
caption: Adder (Vipera berus)
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