Species Numbers (as of February 2008)

The tables below give you an idea how many species of reptiles are known. Note that 1 or 2 new species are described per week and therefore the real number changes permanently. In addition, many species have been described several times and therefore have multiple different names ("synonyms").

Another problem are different species concepts: what exactly is a "species"? A species may contain many individuals of different appearance ("variations") but as long as they interbreed they can exchange genetic information and therefore form a genetic continuum. This biological species concept is increasingly challenged by the "evolutionary species concept" which rather considers populations of very similar specimens as species. As a result, many subspecies have been raised to "full species" status and therefore the number of species increases just because of that.

• Map showing the worldwide distribution of reptiles (as of June 2000)

Species Numbers by Higher Taxa:

Species Numbers by Family:

If you miss any species or changes in status, please notify us (together with references etc.).

Last updated: 11 Feb 2008