The reptiles of Great Britain include three native

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

s and three native lizards. A number of

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 visit Great Britain's shores. There are also at least seven introduced reptile species.

Snakes

* Common European adder, ''Vipera berus berus'' *

Barred grass snake The barred grass snake (''Natrix helvetica'') is a non-venomous colubrid snake from Western Europe, living in and close to water. It was included within the grass snake species, ''Natrix natrix'', until August 2017, when genetic analysis led to i ...

, ''Natrix helvetica helvetica'' *

Smooth snake The smooth snake (''Coronella austriaca'')Street D (1979). ''The Reptiles of Northern and Central Europe''. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. 268 pp. . is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in northern and cen ...

, '' Coronella austriaca austriaca''

Lizards

* Slow worm, ''Anguis fragilis sensu stricto'' * Viviparous (or common) lizard, ''Zootoca vivipara'' *

Sand lizard The sand lizard (''Lacerta agilis'') is a lacertid lizard distributed across most of Europe from France and across the continent to Lake Baikal in Russia. It does not occur in European Turkey. Its distribution is often patchy. In the sand lizard' ...

, ''Lacerta agilis''

Sea turtles

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'' –

foraging Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavi ...

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'' –

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

* Green sea turtle, ''Chelonia mydas'' – vagrantInns, Howard (2009) ''Britain's Reptiles and Amphibians'', Wildguides. * Hawksbill sea turtle, ''Eretmochelys imbricata'' – vagrant *

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 *

Olive ridley sea turtle The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in ...

, ''Lepidochelys olivacea'' – vagrant

Introduced species

Red-eared slider The red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (''Trachemys scripta elegans'') is a subspecies of the pond slider (''Trachemys scripta''), a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States, ...

, ''Trachemys scripta elegans'' * European pond terrapin, ''Emys orbicularis'' *

Common wall lizard ''Podarcis muralis'' (common wall lizard) is a species of lizard with a large distribution in Europe and well-established introduced populations in North America, where it is also called the European wall lizard. It can grow to about in tota ...

, ''Podarcis muralis'' *

Western green lizard The western green lizard (''Lacerta bilineata'') is a lizard of the family Lacertidae. Etymology The genus name ''Lacerta'' and the species name ''bilineata'' are Latin words respectively meaning “lizard” and “with two lines”, with refe ...

, ''Lacerta bilineata'' *

Aesculapian snake The Aesculapian snake (now ''Zamenis longissimus'', previously ''Elaphe longissima''), is a species of nonvenomous snake native to Europe, a member of the Colubrinae subfamily of the family Colubridae. Growing up to in length, it is among th ...

, ''Zamenis longissimus'' *

Grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian non-venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecies are recognized ...

, ''Natrix natrix''

References

Notes

External links

British Reptiles
from wildlifetrust.org.uk
RAUK Identification Guide
*
Wilkinson, J.W., Baker, J. and Foster, J. Priorities for Non-Native Amphibians and Reptiles in the UK
''ARC Research Report'' 11/02. {{Fauna of Great Britain Reptiles

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Reptiles Reptiles