Reptiles (magazine) Reptiles (magazine) Based in Irvine, California, "Reptiles" magazine is a North American magazine dedicated to the reptile and amphibian pet hobby, specializing in the keeping and breeding of these animals. Fancy Publications, later BowTie Inc., launched the magazine in October 1993. After a year of publishing bimonthly, "Reptiles" went monthly in December 1994 due to the more widespread keeping of reptiles and amphibians as pets and the resulting increasing popularity of the magazine. Tips and information on keeping and breeding different herps usually make up the bulk of an issue’s feature articles, but other article topics frequently include field herping,
Evolution of reptiles ecological niches throughout the Paleogene and Neogene eras. Some reached enormous sizes and almost as wide a variation as the dinosaurs once did. Nevertheless, mammalian megafauna never quite reached the skyscraper heights of some sauropods. Nonetheless, large reptiles still composed important megafaunal components, such as giant tortoises, large crocodilians and, more locally, large varanids. Testudines, or turtles, may have evolved from anaspids, but their exact origin is unknown and heavily debated. Fossils date back to around 220 million years ago and share remarkably similar characteristics. These first turtles retain the same body plan as do all modern testudines and are