Friday, April 26, 2024

Types of Reptiles or Class: Reptilia 14 coloring pages

First of all, this post has been updated several times with a new drawing or two every day, for the last several days.  All the free coloring page drawings are of reptiles, both modern and ancient. 

Hi there.  You have found my free coloring pages blog with hundreds of drawings I have done for you to print and color.  It has been several days since I last posted.  I have been recovering from surgery and subsequent hospital stay.  And before that, I will tell you that I was really struggling with my breathing and swallowing.  In any case, I am back and although I have not been posting I HAVE been drawing.  So... I am posting several types of reptiles that I have drawn.  It is taking a few days to get all the pages posted.  Being at the computer is rather challenging right now.  But check back each day.  I am not adding new posts right now, just adding more reptiles to THIS post. 

About reptiles or Class: Reptilia... Reptiles are vertebrates, so they have a backbone and internal bones.  They are generally cold-blooded and have scaly skin.  They tend to lay leathery eggs on land.  Evolutionarily they were the precursors to mammals.  So I have even included a drawing of mammal-like reptiles that gave rise to mammals.  I have also included dinosaurs, although most biologists and paleontologists would probably put dinosaurs in either Dinosauria or Aves.  The Theropod dinosaurs are usually now considered Aves or a type of bird.  I am also including Pterosaurs and Marine Reptiles, both of which are often confused with dinosaurs.  

I am also including modern reptiles such as turtles, tortoises, snakes, crocodilians, lizards, etc.  Some of the drawings are more detailed/realistic and some are more cartoon drawings for younger kids. 

 Here is the first drawing.  It is set in the oldest age of early reptiles. 



Edaphosaurus chased by Dimetrodon

These two animals are from the Early Permian Period of the Paleozoic Era.  They are NOT dinosaurs, although toy Dimetrodons are often found in packages of toy dinosaurs.  Dimetrodon was a predator and Edaphosaurus was an herbivorous prey species. Both were some of the earliest mammal-like reptiles.  Dimetrodon means two-length teeth.  It was the first animal with fangs.  They both lived in what is now Europe and North America between 275 mya and 295 mya. MYA = million years ago. This drawing is a rather simple depiction of the two actual animals.  (It is not exactly perfectly accurate, but it is a recognizable drawing of the two animals.)  They lived in the early Permian Period, many million years before the first dinosaur appeared.  So they were NOT dinosaurs.  The printable version of this drawing is found by clicking on the Paleontology button and then scrolling down to the bottom of the  Paleozoic section of the Paleontology list.  Then click on the title and print the drawing to color.




Diichtodon killed by Postosuchus

Diictodon was one of the mammal-like reptiles.  It lived in burrows and was about half a meter in length.  Postosuchus was the T. rex of the Triassic Late Triassic Period.  Here we see it feeding on a Diichtodon.  The animal in the background is a large tusked herbivore called Placerias.   An adult Postasuchus would have been around 13 feet or 4 meters long.  So this would have to be a juvenile Postaoschus since Diictodon was only about 19 or 20 inches long.  Surprisingly, none of THESE animals are dinosaurs either.  Although it looks much like a dinosaur, Postosuchus was more closely related to crocodilians, not dinosaurs.  The Theropod dinos did NOT evolve from Postosuchus. The printable version of this drawing is found by clicking on the Paleontology button and then scrolling down to the bottom of the Mesozoic section of the Paleontology list.  Then click on the title and print the drawing to color.  Have fun coloring. 



Crocodile Mommy and Son 

Crocodilians have been around for a long time here on Earth.  They lived before the dinosaurs, with the dinosaurs they got huge, and even now they are thriving on Earth.  Since this is a cartoon drawing you can change it from Crocodile Mommy and Son to Crocodile Mommy and Daughter.  Just add eyelashes to the juvenile in the cartoon drawing and that makes the animal a female... AKA daughter.  To get to the printable version of this page just click on the Animals button and scroll to the bottom of the list.



Ichthyotitan the Biggest Marine Reptile

The first found fossils of Ichthyotitan were found a few years ago by an 11-year-old girl.  
The fossils were found near the same place as Mary Anning found the first known Ichthyosaur.  The 11-year-old girl is named Ruby Reynolds.  The fossils of Ichthyotitan were enormous.  They turned out to be a few of the bones of quite possibly the biggest marine reptile ever.  Icthyotitan was an Ichthyosaur.  It was shaped vaguely like a dolphin... only a HUGE dolphin!  It is estimated to have been 82 feet long!  That is 25 meters long!  There IS some evidence of a larger Ichthyosaur but there is speculation that it may be another sample of Ichthyotitan.  

The two Pterosaurs that are seen in the sky are Rhamphorhynchus and Caelestiventus. They are both Pterosaurs from the late Triassic Period, so they did live at the same time as Ichthyotitan.  To get to the printable version of this drawing just click on the Paleontology button and scroll down to the bottom of the Mesozoic section of the list. 



Mosasaur hunting Plesiosaur

This is a drawing of the Cretaceous Sea.  It includes a Mosasaur and a Plesiosaur.  Plesiosaurs were long-neck marine reptiles.  Previously it was thought that Mosasaurs had a a long flat tail.  Now tail flukes have been found on some Mosasaurs so possibly all of them had tail flukes or tail fins.  This is a smaller - possibly subadult Mosasaur hunting a Plesiosaur.  There are a few other animals in the drawing, like the shelled floating Ammonites on the lower left and a crab near the lower right.  These animals were all living in the Late Cretaceous Period.  Plesiosaurs actually also lived in the Jurassic Period.  As far as size, the Mosasaurs could get to be 55 feet long.  Some Plesiosaurs could get to the length of 50 feet, with much of that length made up of their long skinny neck.  FYI some Plesiosaurs (called Pliosaurs) had short necks and they were the kings of the sea in the Jurassic Period.  Remember that THIS is a drawing of the Cretaceous Sea, not the Jurassic Ocean.  This drawing, in printable form, is found by clicking on the button labeled Paleontology.  Then scroll down to the bottom of the  Mesozoic part of that page.  Click on the title and you will get your coloring page.



Pliosaur hunts an Ichthyosaur

Pliosaurs are short-necked Plesiosaurs.  One of the more well-known ones is Liopleurodon. It is seen here about to attack an Ichthyosaur.  Opthalmosaurus was an Ichthyosaur with large eyes for seeing in deep and dark water.  The Opthanlmosaurs is about to bite into its favorite prey, an Ammonite.  But the poor Opthalmosaurus is not aware that it is about to become lunch for the Liopleurodon.  To be clear, Liopleurodon was a short-necked Plesiosaur called a Pliosuar.  Opthalmosaurus was a type of Ichthyosaur.  It was considerably smaller than the Ichthyotitan that is further up this post.  Opthalmosaurus was around 20 feet (6 meters) long and marine reptiles from the Liopleurodon genus were somewhere between 16 and 85 feet (5-25 meters) long.  

To find this drawing in printable form just click on the button labeled Paleontology and then scroll down to near the bottom of the Mesozoic Life section of the page.  Have fun coloring!



Baryonyx near Two Marine Reptiles

A somewhat different version of this drawing was posted previously.  I have included two marine reptiles in this new version of this drawing.  One is an Ichthyosaur and the other is a long-neck Plesiosaur.  They are in an estuary - that is, brackish water near the mouth of a river... where it runs into the ocean.  There IS some evidence of some Mesozoic marine reptiles living in estuaries.  Baryonyx was a type of Spinosaur.  It actually mostly fed on fish.  This is a mother Baryonyx who is carrying her offspring in her mouth, like modern crocodilians do.  I suppose that Baryonyx might have also fed on small marine reptiles if they got close enough.  Or maybe Baryonyx could swim out into the river to catch small or young marine reptiles.  But its main diet was probably river fish.  By the way, there is a Sauropod and two Pteranodon Pterosaurs in the distance. 

This drawing, in printable form, is found by clicking on the Paleontology button and scrolling down to near the bottom of the Mesozoic part of the list.  Have fun coloring!



Triceratops ignoring Volcano

Triceratops was a large quadrupedal herbivore.  Although considered part of Dinosauria, it is also still considered to possibly have still been a large reptile. It was around 30 feet or 9 meters long and had brow horns the length of broomsticks. These large horns may have been for sexual display, but considering the top predator in North America at the time, those horns were also clearly for defense.  Parallel evolution is when two animals with a relationship evolve together.  In predator-prey relationship, it is thought that size can be involved.  The mammals of the Mesozoic did not evolve into larger animals because they had to be able to burrow and hide from all the dinosaurian predators.  In the case of Triceratops and T. rex, the dinosaurs were hunted and hunter.  AKA predator-prey.  So as the Tyrannosaurs evolved into bigger size the Ceratopsians evolved bigger size and bigger defenses.  Those three horns, especially the brow horns, were evolved defenses.  The frill was also probably part of that defense.  Although considering the strength of T. rex's bite the frill would not be great protection.  But getting stabbed in the gut or in the leg even would have done a number on a predator.  If injured it could not hunt and thus would certainly starve to death unless fed by another member of the pack. 

To get to the printable version of this drawing just click on the button labeled "Paleontology" and scroll down to the bottom part of the "Mesozoic" section.  Have fun coloring Triceratops! 


Long-Necked Galapagos Tortoise

There are several species of Galapagos tortoise.  One species evolved a long neck to be able to reach cactus from cactus trees.  This drawing is of one of those.  The Galapagos tortoises are the largest species of tortoise in the world.  Be aware that there ARE bigger sea turtles, but a turtle is aquatic while a tortoise is terrestrial.  In fact, a tortoise can't swim so if you put it in the water it will drown.

This drawing, in printable form, is found by clicking on the Animals button and scrolling to the bottom of the list of drawings.  Have fun coloring this Galapagos tortoise!



Sea Turtle Hatchlings cartoon drawing 

This is a cartoon drawing of sea turtles.  Sea Turtles crawl onto land to lay their eggs in the sand of sandy beaches.  Then the mother books it back into the ocean.  Her eggs hatch and the baby sea turtles (hatchlings) book it to the ocean too.  About one in 100 sea turtles live to reproduce.  In this drawing the sea turtles are clearly hatchlings that DID make it to the ocean.  Some of the turtle hatchlings are farther away so they are drawn smaller.  In cartoons, eyelashes make the animal a female. 

This drawing, in printable form, is found by clicking on the button labeled Animals.  Scroll down to near the bottom to see the title and then click on it to get your printable coloring page.  Have fun!



Forest Snakes cartoon drawing

This is another cartoon drawing of a pair of snakes in the forest.  Snakes evolved from legged animals and now snakes can be found in practically all environments.  The snakes in this cartoon drawing are forest snakes.  Snakes live practically everywhere on Earth except Iceland, Greenland, New Zealand, Ireland, and Antarctica.  These snakes in this drawing can be colored how you wish: with stripes, with spots, with diamond shapes, etc. You can print the drawing by going to near the bottom of the Animals page... bu first clicking on the Animals button and then scrolling down.  Although this drawing is somewhat cartoony, it has quite a bit of detail as well.  Have fun coloring!


Utah Banded Gecko 

The Utah Banded Gecko is a subspecies of the Western Banded Gecko.  It lives in deserts and feeds on small invertebrates like arachnids and insects.  It is native to the Southwestern United States.  The Utah Banded Gecko full scientific name is Coleonyx veriagatus utahensis.  When it is hunting it waves its long tail in the air like a flag.  It is known to kill and eat scorpions.  When it catches a scorpion it shakes its head like a dog killing a rat.  The shaking of the scorpion is so fast that it disables the scorpion and at least disables the scorpion's stinger.  There are tree scorpions and several species of scorpion that live in the Southwest desert.  The Utah Banded Gecko is not a large lizard.  They get to around 6 inches long.

This drawing is found in printable form by clicking on the Animals button and scrolling to the bottom part of the list.  Have fun coloring! 


Two-Headed California King Snake

I recommend that you look up photos of this species of snake.  Then you can color it how you want.  There are several patterns of this snake: brown stripes on white, lavender, white stripes on black, blue stripes, etc.  Below is one I colored with black and white stripes.

California King Snakes really do come in various patterns and various colors.  I have posted the above drawing so you can add the pattern that you want when you color it.  I will say again that you should look on the internet so you can see the various versions of patterns on this cool snake. I am sure you will find more than I listed here.  I am posting one drawing with a pattern so you can get the idea.  But on the above drawing, you can choose your own pattern to color the scales.  

I should mention that most California King Snakes have just one head.  Only one in 100,000 snakes hatch with two heads.  It is a developmental birth defect I suppose.  Although most snakes are hatched from leathery eggs not born alive.  Two-headed snakes fare pretty poorly in the wild.  They struggle to feed and to move.  With that thought, I drew this snake as a very young one.  It is seen with what would be a healthy adult snake's food - a kangaroo rat.  Of course, this baby would not be able to eat such large prey unless it lived to adulthood.  By the way, California King Snakes are constrictors.  They squeeze or constrict their prey to kill the prey before they swallow them.  

Black & White Stripes on 2-Headed California King Snake

 You could print these coloring pages several times and color each one differently. THIS drawing is of a black and white striped California King Snake, (a 2 headed one).  But you could color either drawing any way you would like.  I really suggest you look up some photos of this type of snake in all of its variations.  This is a good example of what my art teacher told me. "Nature is all about repetition with variations."  California King Snakes are basically the same shape but the coloring and patterns are totally different in the many different types of this snake. 

These two drawings are found in printable form by clicking on the Animals button and scrolling down to the bottom of the list of titles. Have fun coloring... when I get the pictures posted.

And, that is the last drawing for this post!  I think I will post each drawing individually or in pairs.

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