REPTILES IN NEPAL

                        Nepal is a country consists of variety of plants and animals. It is only due to geographic distribution and climatic condition.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       We can see Dolphin to schizothorax, bullfrog to spade footed toad, coral snake to Himalayan python, peacock to Spiny Bladder and Rhino to red panda in or country. Here are 6300 species of reptiles in the world among them 141 species are suspected to found in Nepal which is 2.2% of world. Hence, Nepal is rich in aspect of reptiles.

    Reptiles are cool-blooded, air breathing vertebrates which include snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoise, crocodile, and alligators. Most of reptiles hatch from eggs

   Fossil studies suggest that reptiles evolved from their amphibian ancestors in the early Carboniferous Period, about 340 million years ago.  Reptiles suppressed amphibians as the dominant vertebrates on the land.

By the late Carboniferous Period, about 300 million years ago, reptiles had splits into several distinct types, characterized by difference in skulls and skeletons. The Anapsida, of which the turtle may be only living members, retained some similarities to the earliest reptiles. The Synapsida are sometime called the mammal-like reptiles. The Diapsida splits into two distinct groups: the archosaurs, meaning "ruling reptiles,” which includes crocodilians, pterosaurs, dinosaurs, and birds; and lepidosaurs, which give rise to tuatara and its extinct relatives, as well as lizard, snakes and worm lizard.

The Mesozoic Era is often called as the age of reptiles because this era is dominantly ruled by the dinosaurs on the land, the pleisoasaurs and ichthyosaurs in the sea, and the pterosaurs, or flying reptiles in the sky. Fossils studies suggested that the dinosaurs  may be the direct ancestors of birds.

This animal was killed by a disaster bout 65 million years ago. The reasons of massive extinction are still studied, but some scientists have found evidence that a giant asteroid or comet hit the earth that causes the abrupt climate changes that the dinosaurs could not survive.

In Nepal many research has been done in the field of reptiles. But it is our misfortunate that researches paper, reports, collected specimens are dispersed and some of them become the valuable property in the foreigner’s museum and we are still unknown about them. So there is need of centralized collection with proper record and correct data. It is the time for networking of Zoologist for proper research and establishment of living museum of nation. If we do so it is our true respect towards reptiles.