Reptile

VHS cover

*Reptile* is the eleventh episode of the first season of Eyewitness. The topic of the episode is about snakes, lizards, crocodilians and turtles, their behaviour, and role in human cultures. The episode aired on 17th October 1994.

*Reptile* is based on a book title that was first published in 1991, and has been republished in 1998, 2017 and 2023.

## Episode

### Introductory sequence

A grey rocky plain is shown, which splits open with light and steam pouring out; an Asian water dragon crawls out and breathes a lick of flame before the screen fades to white.

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Reptile.

The introductory section introduces reptiles and their classification, as lizards, snakes, and an alligator crawl and slither around, ending with a Chinese water dragon, who is the recurring hero of the episode. The narrator mentions the distinguishing features of reptiles being scaly skin, and their cold blooded nature.

What is a reptile? They all have scaly skins, and are in effect solar powered. They get much of their energy from the sun and have little need for food, requiring much less food than a mammal does. Reptiles also have ways of cooling off, that can involve hiding in the shade of rocks, gaping in the case of crocodilians and doing a workout in the case of the shovel-snouted lizard.

Reptiles come in many shapes and sizes, with some giant lizards larger than a human and some smaller than beetles. There are 6,500 species of reptile that have perfectly adapted to their environment. The frightening-looking thorny devil actually uses its spines to collect dew to drink, the basilisk lizard (named after a monster that can kill with a single gaze) has fringed feet that help it run across water and geckos have sucker-tipped toes to help them grip to any surface.

Tortoises are the slowest reptile family, with giant tortoises able to travel five metres a minute. The shell is actually part of the tortoise's backbone. They are so tough and heavy, that the shell of a giant tortoise could be used to jack up a car. Perhaps that is why people in Asia Minor believed a tortoise supported the Earth on its back. Sea turtles are wonderfully adapted to the oceans and can migrate thousands of miles. It is theorised that they evolved when the continents were closer together, and migrated as the continents drifted apart.

The crocodilians, embracing caiman, alligators and crocodiles, are the reptiles closest to the sea dragons of myth. They are as old as the dinosaurs and perfectly adapted for life in the rivers. While they are deadly predators their jaws can also gently cradle their offspring, for crocodilians are one of the few reptiles to take care of their young. Alligators can be told from crocodiles by having more rounded jaws, protruding front teeth, smaller size and distribution, being found only in China and America. Alligators were accidentally named after the Spanish word for lizard, el lagarto. They have smaller appetites than the giant saltwater crocodile. In Papua New Guinea, the crocodile is believed to be the creator of all things. The ancient Egyptians worshipped a crocodile-headed god called Sobek.

The biggest reptile family are the snakes and lizards. Snakes evolved from lizards and the process of growing a longer body and losing their legs has meant their internal organs have had to be completely rearranged. The snake uses its muscular body to aid with movement, with the sidewinder using a special stepping motion to move over desert sand. Snakes can also use their bodies to constrict their prey. Snakes have a special place in mythology, from the Greek myths of Laocoon and Medusa to the snake pits of modern adventure films. The menace of a snake's flickering tongue has been given lip service in Hollywood monster movies.

Reptile senses are shown next. The snake's tongue is actually collecting scent for the Jacobson's organ. Lizards use their tongues to clean their eyes, while chameleons use their tongues as projectile weapons for catching prey. Chameleons can see in two directions at once with their independently-moving eyes. Chameleons are most famous for their ability to change colour. But reptiles don't see colour well, and see movement much better. Snake charmers use the movement of the flute to attract the snake's attention, rather than the music.

Reptiles come in many colours as a way of protection against predators. Camouflage can be an effective first line of defence for a reptile. Predatory reptiles can also use camouflage to hide from their prey and make it easier to strike. Some reptiles let others know where they are, with the rattlesnake using its rattle as protection against being stepped on and crocodilians that can roar as loudly as an aeroplane. Many reptiles use visual rather than vocal signals, including the warning colours of the coral snake, the frilled bluff of the frilled lizard and the armadillo lizard that rolls into a spiky ball.

Reptiles display their most bizarre characteristics while courting. Male tortoises joust over females. The outcome of all this is the greatest reptile adaptation of all, shelled eggs that allowed the reptiles to leave the water and stay there. While they could live anywhere thanks to eggs, their infancy is not easy. Young turtles especially face poor odds of survival, as they are food for many predators.

The tuatara is the fourth and smallest reptile family, and is in danger of extinction because of the arrival of foreign mammals to its native New Zealand. These reptiles, with a vestigial third eye on top of their heads and able to go for an hour without breathing are now at risk of breathing their last.

Snakes never reached New Zealand. They evolved at around the same time as the mammals and birds. Egg-eating snakes have a special technique for feeding on bird eggs, involving dislocating their jaws to swallow the egg and using sharpened vertebra spines to crack the shell. Some snakes have heat-sensitive pits for detecting warm blood, making it easy to strike with their fangs. Fangs are the hypodermic needles of the reptile world, but only a quarter of snakes have venom and many of those are now milked to create antivenom. There are still thousands of deaths from snakebite each year. The sea snake is shown, rubbing against itself to begin shedding its skin.

Reptiles shed their skins as they grow, discarding the ones that no longer fit. Because it appears they have been reborn, snakes became symbols of eternity in Hindu religion. The Australian aborigines believe a snake is the mother and father of all creation. The sign of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and the modern symbol of health and healing, is a staff with a snake wound round it.

Reptiles cannot be contained by myths and symbols. The Komodo dragon is a real-life dragon, being the largest lizard on Earth. They have toxic saliva that is used to kill their prey. The alligator snapping turtle is another creature of nightmares, with a worm-like tongue to draw prey closer and a powerful snap to grab anything from a fish to a human hand. Dragons were viewed as positive beings by the Chinese, while dragons in the west became evil because the early Christians wanted to display their dominion over nature.

Nowadays, our attitudes to nature are different but we still have stories of encounters with massive reptiles. A reward from the early 1900s to find a snake longer than thirteen metres has gone unclaimed because modern snakes do not grow that large. But humans are not the ones most at risk of snakes, with lizards constantly having to be alert for an attack by their reptilian cousins. When all seems lost, a lizard can shed its tail to ensure its own survival. It’s just one more reason reptiles have survived so long. One more adaptation. One more way in which the truth about the reptiles is stranger than myth.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Asian water dragon, *Physignathus cocincinus*
* Milk snake, *Lampropeltis triangulum*
* American alligator, *Alligator mississippiensis*
* Aldabra giant tortoise, *Aldabrachelys gigantea*
* Western hognose snake, *Heterodon nasicus*
* Veiled chameleon, *Chamaeleo calyptratus*
* Tokay gecko, *Gekko gecko*
* Hermann’s tortoise, *Testudo hermanni*
* Nile crocodile, *Crocodylus niloticus*
* Bank vole, *Myodes glareolus*
* Corn snake, *Pantherophis guttatus*
* Common snapping turtle, *Chelydra serpentina*
* Indian python, *Python molurus*

### Stock footage

* Greater earless lizard, *Cophosaurus texanus*
* Sidewinder rattlesnake, *Crotalus cerastes*
* Tuatara, *Sphenodon punctatus*
* Marine iguana, *Amblyrhynchus cristatus*
* Central bearded dragon, *Pogona vitticeps*
* Common chuckwalla, *Sauromalus ater*
* Sandfish skink, *Scincus scincus*
* Nile crocodile, *Crocodylus niloticus*
* Shovel-snouted lizard, *Meroles anchietae*
* Galapagos lava lizard, *Microlophus albemarlensis*
* Dwarf sand gecko, *Tropiocolotes sp*.
* Thorny devil, *Moloch horridus*
* Brown basilisk, *Basiliscus vittatus*
* Snowshoe hare, *Lepus americanus*
* Loggerhead sea turtle, *Caretta caretta*
* Saltwater crocodile, *Crocodylus porosus*
* Blue wildebeest, *Connochaetes taurinus*
* American alligator, *Alligator mississippiensis*
* Puff adder, *Bitis arietans*
* Peringuey’s adder, *Bitis peringueyi*
* Gopher snake, *Pituophis catenifer*
* Red-sided garter snake, *Thamnophis sirtalis*
* Thirst snake, *Dipsas sp*.
* Burton’s legless lizard, *Lialis burtonis*
* Golden-tailed gecko, *Strophurus taenicauda*
* Mediterranean chameleon, *Chamaeleo chamaeleon*
* Clouded yellow butterfly, *Colias croceus*
* Painted lady butterfly, *Vanessa cardui*
* Indian cobra, *Naja naja*
* Gila monster, *Heloderma suspectum*
* Casquehead iguana, *Laemanctus sp*.
* Seychelles blue pigeon, *Alectroenas pulcherrimus*
* Panamanian white-faced capuchin monkey, *Cebus imitator*
* Green iguana, *Iguana iguana*
* Green tree python, *Morelia viridis*
* Collared peccary, *Dicotyles tajacu*
* Western diamondback rattlesnake, *Crotalus atrox*
* Eastern coral snake, *Micrurus fulvius*
* Frilled lizard, *Chlamydosaurus kingii*
* Armadillo girdled lizard, *Ouroborus cataphractus*
* Speckled rattlesnake, *Crotalus mitchellii*
* Cuban brown anole, *Anolis sagrei*
* Sulawesi lined flying lizard, *Draco spilonotus*
* Fiji crested iguana, *Brachylophus vitiensis*
* Toad-headed agama, *Phrynocephalus sp*.
* Mwanza rock agama, *Agama mwanzae*
* Ploughshare tortoise, *Astrochelys yniphora*
* Olive ridley sea turtle, *Lepidochelys olivacea*
* Green sea turtle, *Chelonia mydas*
* Perentie, *Varanus giganteus*
* Silver gull, *Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae*
* American black vulture, *Coragyps atratus*
* Black spiny-tailed iguana, *Ctenosaura similis*
* Ghost crab, Ocypodinae
* Octopus, *Abdopus sp*.
* Common black hawk, *Buteogallus anthracinus*
* Giant weta, *Deinacrida sp*.
* Domestic pig, *Sus domesticus*
* Domestic chicken, *Gallus domesticus*
* Common egg-eating snake, *Dasypeltis scabra*
* Desert woodrat, *Neotoma lepida*
* West African gaboon viper, *Bitis rhinoceros*
* Saw-scaled viper, *Echis sp*.
* Domestic horse, *Equus ferus caballus*
* Yellow-bellied sea snake, *Hydrophis platurus*
* Barred grass snake, *Natrix helvetica*
* Domestic cattle, *Bos taurus*
* Komodo dragon, *Varanus komodoensis*
* Alligator snapping turtle, *Macrochelys temminckii*
* Three-spined stickleback, *Gasterosteus aculeatus*
* Green anaconda, *Eunectes murinus*

## Stock footage sources

Die Nibelungen (1924) – Black-and-white dragon-slaying movie

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) - Monster Iguana scene

Killers from Space (1954) – Lizard horror movie sequence

The World About Us: The Great Turtle Mystery (1976) - Sea turtle hatchlings being eaten by black vulture, black iguana and ghost crab

The Natural World

* Fragments of Eden (1984) – Seychelles blue pigeon
* Through Animal Eyes (1985) – Chameleon catching butterflies
* Okavango: Jewel of the Kalahari – Search for the Jewel (1988) – Agama lizard eating termite
* The Serpent’s Embrace (1990) – Saw-scaled viper, green tree python, sea snake
* New Guinea, An Island Apart: Beyond the Unknown Shore (1992) – Saltwater crocodile, Burton's legless lizard

Wildlife on One: Sulawesi – Island of Discovery (1985) – Sulawesi lined flying lizard

The Trials of Life: Hunting and Escaping (1990) – Thirst snake

Killing for a Living: Dressing for Dinner (1993) – Frilled lizard

## Credits

* Producer - Ben Southwell
* Graphics Designer - Alisa Robbins
* Writers - David Helton and Ben Southwell
* Script Supervisor - Brian Meehl
* Camera - James Aspinall and Justine Evans
	+ Assistant - Andy Shillabeer
* Set Design - Ben Scott
* Production Manager - Peter Thornton
* Production Assistant - Jon Cox
* Production Secretaries - Cathy Wilkin and Caroline Elston
* Unit Manager - Grant Dean
* Researcher - Bob Harvey
* Picture Researcher - Martin Willis
* Graphic Designer - Caroline Sherry
* Editors
	+ Offline - Chris Godden
	+ Online - Sharon Stiles
* Dubbing Editor - Julie Mitchell
* Dubbing Mixer - Andrew Wilson
* Music - Guy Michelmore
* Executive Producer - Michael Bright,
* Special thanks to:
	+ Bristol Zoological Gardens
	+ David and Susan Prowse (Filton Aquaria)
	+ Severnside Recovery

## Making this programme

The beginning of the making-of episode looks at how the Eyewitness Museum was built. The process started with the architecture but unlike a real building, no stairs or elevators were needed and instead the most interesting route could be chosen. Some objects in the museum were also made in the computer, including the plane and the dinosaur skeleton. But while the building and objects can be made by the computer, live animals were also needed. Incorporating live action into the museum was the biggest challenge. Just building the underwater room in the opening sequence took weeks and combined several layers of film, effects, graphics and specially-shot fish. The final element for the title sequence was the music. The music is the only guide to the museum in this sequence. For every visual move and piece of action, a synchronised music cue was needed as well as providing a musical theme for the whole series and the Eyewitness motif. One of the memorable sequences from Reptile was the car apparently jacked up by a giant tortoise. The car was actually held up by a breakdown truck. By tickling the tortoise’s neck, the specialist handler encouraged the animal to raise its shell, an effect used in the final cut. Electrical graphics were used to show the evolution of snakes from lizards, while a computer program called HAL was used to digitally remove the tail of the water dragon.

## Errors and corrections

* It's stated that reptiles have poor colour vision, worse than mammals, but the opposite is true; most mammals have poor colour vision for vertebrates and reptiles can usually see more colours than humans can.

## Home media releases

As well as being released on VHS, Reptile was also released as part of the DVD release in the USA.

Reptile America-release DVD cover

**Writing staff**: Anne MacLeod • Ben Southwell • Ben Steiner • Brian Meehl • David Hanson • David Stafford • David Helton • George Bloom • Lynette Singer • Mike Tomlinson • Paul Thomas • Stan Cullimore
**Directors**: Gavin Maxwell • Justine Kershaw • David Hutt • Andrew Jackson • Justin Hardy • Ludo Graham • Jerry Foulkes • Derek Hall • Sanjida O'Connell • Caius Julyan • Bonni Cohen • Leanne Pooley • Edwina Vardey • Alexandra Beazley • Sam Hodgkin • Karen Walsh • Jack Weber • Richard Simkin • Alex Hearle • Brian Cummins • Ben Southwell
**Composers**: Guy Michelmore (season one) • Guy Dagul (seasons two and three)

**Season One**: Cat • Fish • Horse • Dog • Jungle • Bird • Amphibian • Insect • Shark • Elephant • **Reptile** • Dinosaur • Skeleton
**Season Two**: Desert • Tree • Ape • Mammal • Butterfly and Moth • Volcano • Rock and Mineral • Seashore • Pond and River • Weather • Arctic and Antarctic • Prehistoric Life • Shell
**Season Three**: Flight • Bear • Sight • Island • Survival • Mountain • Monster • Human Machine - Plant • Ocean • Planets • Life • Natural Disasters