There is only one known land

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalia ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

native to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, the viviparous or common lizard. It appears to have a widespread distribution across the entire island with coastal, bogland and mountainous areas showing highest numbers of sightings. Five marine turtle species appear regularly off the west coast but do not come ashore. All are endangered, some critically. The pond turtle is introduced.

Subclass: Diapsida

Infraclass: Lepidosauromorpha

Superorder: Lepidosauria

=Order:
Squamata Squamata (, Latin ''squamatus'', 'scaly, having scales') is the largest order of reptiles, comprising lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians (worm lizards), which are collectively known as squamates or scaled reptiles. With over 10,900 species, ...
(lizards, snakes)

= ---- *Suborder:

Lacertilia Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia althou ...

(lizards) **Family:

Lacertidae The Lacertidae are the family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at least 300 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group of reptiles found i ...

***Subfamily: Lacertinae ****Genus: '' Zootoca'' *****

Viviparous lizard The viviparous lizard, or common lizard, (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara''), is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other species of non-marine reptile, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning ...

, ''Zootoca vivipara'' **Family:

Anguidae Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the Northern Hemisphere. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of tooth crowns, osteoderms, and a lateral fold ...

***Subfamily: Anguinae ****Genus: ''

Anguis SlowwormsThe "slow-" in slowworm is distinct from the English adjective ''slow'' ("not fast"); the word comes from Old English ''slāwyrm'', where ''slā-'' means "slowworm" and ''wyrm'' means "serpent, reptile". () (also called blindworms and ha ...

'' *****

Slowworm The slow worm (''Anguis fragilis'') is a reptile native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, a slowworm, a blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple and hazelworm. These legless lizards are also sometimes called common slowworms. T ...

, ''Anguis fragilis'' (believed to be a more recent introduction, with confirmed sightings only in

The Burren The Burren (; ) is a karst/ glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland.
Burr ...

)

Order: Testudines (
turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
s)

---- *Suborder:

Cryptodira The Cryptodira ('' el, hidden neck'') are a suborder of Testudines that includes most living tortoises and turtles. Cryptodira differ from Pleurodira (side-necked turtles) in that they lower their necks and pull the heads straight back into the ...

**Superfamily: Chelonioidea (

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

s) ***Family:

Dermochelyidae Dermochelyidae is a family of turtles which has seven extinct genera and one extant genus, including the largest living sea turtles. Classification of known genera The following list of dermochelyid species was published by Hirayama and Tong i ...

****Genus: ''Dermochelys'' *****

Leatherback sea turtle The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weight ...

, ''Dermochelys coriacea'' ***Family:

Cheloniidae Cheloniidae is a family of typically large marine turtles that are characterised by their common traits such as, having a flat streamlined wide and rounded shell and almost paddle-like flippers for their forelimbs. They are the only sea turtles t ...

****Genus: ''Chelonia'' *****

Green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

, ''Chelonia mydas'' ****Genus: ''Eretmochelys'' ***** Hawksbill sea turtle, ''Eretmochelys imbricata'' ****Genus: ''Lepidochelys'' *****

Kemp's ridley sea turtle Kemp's ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys kempii''), also called the Atlantic ridley sea turtle, is the rarest species of sea turtle and is the world's most endangered species of sea turtle. It is one of two living species in the genus '' Lepido ...

, ''Lepidochelys kempii'' Vagrant ****Genus: ''Caretta'' *****

Loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

, ''Caretta caretta'' **Superfamily: Testudinoidea (pond turtles) ***Family: Emydidae ****Genus: ''

Trachemys ''Trachemys'' is a genus of turtles belonging to the family Emydidae. Members of this genus are native to the Americas, ranging from the Midwestern United States south to northern Argentina, but one subspecies, the red-eared slider (''T. script ...

'' *****

Pond slider The pond slider (''Trachemys scripta'') is a species of common, medium-sized, semiaquatic turtle. Three subspecies are described, the most recognizable of which is the red-eared slider (''T. s. elegans''), which is popular in the pet trade and h ...

, ''Trachemys scripta'' Introduced McGabhan, D. and Quigley, D.T.G. Minchin, D. 2013 First record of the freshwater turtle ''Trachemys scripta scripta'' from the Shannon. ''Irish Naturalists' Journal'' 32: 75

References

*King, G.L. and Berrow, S.D. (2009) Marine turtles in Irish waters. Special Supplement to the Irish Naturalists' Journal (30 pages)

External links

nationalgeographic.com: Snakeless in Ireland: Blame Ice Age, Not St. Patrick

Turtles stranded in Ireland

"Ireland Red List No.5 Amphibians, Reptiles & Freshwater Fish"
{{Animals of Ireland Reptiles

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...