There are 8,163 species of reptile on Earth. Originating from amphibians, reptiles evolved the ability to produce eggs. The closed system of the egg evolved to enable reptiles to fully colonise the land, providing an aqueous water-like environment for development. Some species of reptile don’t lay eggs but instead retain the shell and give birth to live young, and still others produce eggs lacking shells. These shell-less eggs later evolved into the mammalian placenta. There are two main types of reptiles, the Lepidosaura, which are the scaly reptiles, such as lizards and snakes, and the Archosauria, or ruling reptiles, which includes the crocodilians and the extinct dinosaurs.

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