Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Reptilia
‖
Rep-til′i-a
(r?p-t?l′?-?)
, Noun.
pl.
[NL.]
(Zool.)
A class of air-breathing oviparous vertebrates, usually covered with scales or bony plates. The heart generally has two auricles and one ventricle. The development of the young is the same as that of birds.
☞ It is nearly related in many respects to Aves, or birds. The principal existing orders are
Testidunata
or Chelonia
(turtles), Crocodilia
, Lacertilla
(lizards), Ophidia
(serpents), and Rhynchocephala
; the chief extinct orders are Dinosauria
, Theremorpha
, Mosasauria
, Pterosauria
, Plesiosauria
, Ichtyosauria
.