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 Evolution of reptiles Reptiles arose about 310–320 million years ago during the Carboniferous period. Reptiles, in the traditional sense of the term, are defined as animals that have scales or scutes, lay land-based hard-shelled eggs, and possess ectothermic metabolisms. So defined, the group is paraphyletic, excluding endothermic animals like birds and mammals that are descended from early reptiles. A definition in accordance with phylogenetic nomenclature, which rejects paraphyletic groups, includes birds while excluding mammals and their synapsid ancestors. So defined, Reptilia is identical to Sauropsida. Though lots of reptiles today are apex predators, many examples of apex reptiles have existed