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What is a Snake?
A snake is a kind of reptile. Snakes do not have legs.
A reptile is one of five kinds of animals that have backbones. The bodies of reptiles are covered with scales
Turtles and lizards are two other kinds of reptiles found in Ohio. Both turtles and lizards have legs. Three kinds of snake that live in Ohio are poisonous. None of the turtles or lizards in Ohio is poisonous. However, one of our turtles, the Snapping Turtle, can give a very nasty bite. There are several more kinds of reptile that live in other parts of the World. Some of those are poisonous.
Animals with Backbones
The five kinds of animals with backbones are:
1. Fishes are cold-blooded animals and they always live in water. Fishes have gills and get their oxygen from water rather than air. Usually they have fins.
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A bluegill is a fish that lives in fresh water. Bluegills live in Ohio. |
| A shark is a fish that lives in salty ocean water. Since there are no salty oceans in Ohio today, sharks do not live here now. |
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2. Amphibians are cold-blooded animals and they have smooth skin that usually is moist. Usually they live in water when they are young, and on land as adults.
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| A bullfrog is another kind of amphibian that lives in Ohio. |
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3. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals with dry scaly skin.
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A black racer is a snake that lives in Ohio today. Since all snakes are reptiles, a Black Racer also is one kind of reptile. |
| Dinosaurs belong to a group of reptiles that is extinct. We have not found any fossils of dinosaurs in Ohio, therefore we do not know whether they ever lived here. |
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4. Birds are warm-blooded animals that lay eggs and have feathers and wings. Most birds can fly.
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5. Mammals are warm-blooded animals that have hair. Female mammals produce milk and feed it to their young.
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| A mastodon is a kind of extinct mammal. Mastodons lived in Ohio 10,000 or more years ago, and we find their fossils here today. |
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