| 释义 |
Reptilia /rɛpˈtɪlɪə/nounTreated as plural. Originally: those animals which creep or crawl. In later use (Zoology ): the class of vertebrates which comprises the reptiles (snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles, tortoises, and many extinct forms).- The Linnaean order Reptilia comprised all the members of the class ‘Amphibia’ having legs, which excluded the snakes and other legless forms but included the frogs and toads.From a cladistic point of view the taxon is invalid because it is paraphyletic, with two groups of non-reptiles (the birds and mammals) evolving from it. The group is therefore regarded as an evolutionary grade rather than a clade..
Origin Early 17th century; earliest use found in Owen Felltham (?1602–1668), essayist and poet. From post-classical Latin reptilia, plural of reptile reptile. |