Toads are called poikilothermic animals because their body temperature changes according to the surroundings. They do not maintain constant body temperature.

All endotherms are homeothermic, but some ectotherms, like desert lizards, are so good at maintaining their body temperature with behavioral means that they are considered homeothermic.

Reptiles are cold-blooded, or ectothermic, animals. This means that they cannot produce heat in their own bodies, and have to rely on their surroundings to keep warm. This is why most reptiles are found in hot or warm climates. Reptiles often bask in the sun to get warm.

Lizards, crocodiles, terrapins, and snakes routinely make use of the morning sun to raise their body temperature. Freshwater turtles and terrapins have been found to bask and raise their body temperature close to the highest temperatures that they can tolerate.

Unlike amphibians, reptiles breathe only through their lungs and have dry, scaly skin that prevents them from drying out.

These animals are most easily recognized by their dry, scaly skin. Almost all reptiles are cold-blooded, and most lay eggs—though some, like the boa constrictor, give birth to live young. Instead of possessing gills like fish or amphibians, reptiles have lungs for breathing.

The heart consists of four chambers arranged in a linear sequence. Types of reptilian hearts: lizard, snake, crocodile, and turtle.

Most reptiles possess three chambered hearts, with the exception of crocodilians.

In fact, as an ultraviolet ray, black light is part of a spectrum included in natural sunlight. The danger, much like other light bulbs, comes when prolonged eye contact occurs with the black light, causing permanent retina damage commonly referred to as “snow blindness.”

As noted last month in the journal Mammalia, shining an ultraviolet light on a platypus makes the animal’s fur fluoresce with a greenish-blue tint. They’re one of the few mammals known to exhibit this trait.