The presence of ribs on most trunk vertebrae causes increased modification of

the hypaxial muscles. Ribs form in the myoscpta of the body wall muscles along
most of the length of the vertebral column in snakes and legss lizards. The
dissections of mosauer (1935) and gase (1967) indicate the presence of as many
as 20 discrete muscles on each side of a single snake vertebra. These muscles
connect vertebra to vertebra, vertebra to rib, rib to rib, and both rib and vertebra
to skin, as well as attach to longitudinal tendons that help form and control the
curvatures of the body. In other reptiles, myosepta and ribs have become
confined to the anterior portion of the trunk, now known as the thorax.
Abdominal wall muscles lack segmentation, and they have differentiated into
three layers : external pblique, internal oblique and transversus abdominis.
Hypaxial muscles of the thoracic body wall, known as intercostal muscles, assist
in respiration by raising and lowering the rib cage.
The body of reptiles is suspended from the scapulae by muscles that show much
more differentiation than those of amphibians. Muscles of the limbs and girdles
consist of dorsal extensor and ventral flexor muscles. Increased specialization of
the intrinsic muscles allows for more preciseand powerfull movenment of the
limbs as well as greater support for the body. In those forms utilizing
quadrupedal locomotion, muscles attached to the humerus and femur must
rotate these bones forward and backward, as well as hold the bnes steady in a
horizontal position at the appropriate angle to the horizontal so that the body
can be held above the substrate.
Muscles of the first pharyngeal arch continue to operate the jaws, and muscles of
the second arch attached to the hyoid skeleton. Muscles of the remaining arches
continue to be associated primarily with the pharynx and larynx.
Extrinsic integumentary muscles insert on the underside of the dermis and allow
independent movement of the skin. This is the first group of vertebrates to have
integumentary muscles capable of moving the skin.
Cardiovascular system
Because are the first trully terrestial vertebrates, many differences between the
reptilian and amphibian cardiovascular systems are associated with the loss of
functional gills and the need for efficient pulmonary circulation to bring blood to
and from the lungs. Reptiles exhibit three different modes of circulation (fig.
8.10). the ventricle of reptiles than crocodilians incomplerely divided into dorsal
and ventral chambers by a horizontal septum. A smaller vertical septum divides
the ventricles into right and left chambers. Teh pulmonary trunk leaves the right
ventricle. Both systematic trunk exit from the left ventricle in the squamata
(snakes and lizards); in turtels, however, one systematic trunk leaves the left
ventricle and the other leaves the right ventricle. Because the interventricular
septum is not complete, and because both atria open into the left ventricle,
blood can flow from the left ventricle into the right ventricle.
The atrioventricular valve consist of two flaps that partially subdivide the left
ventricle into a cavum arteriosum on the left and a cavum venosu on the right.
when the atria contract , the cavum venosum becomes filled with deoxygenated
blood from the right atrium and the cavum arteriosum becomes filled with
oxygenated blood from the left atrium. Most of the deoxygenated blood in the
cavum venosum flows into the right atrium. When the right contracts, the blood
flows out throught the right systematic trunk also. The oxygenated blood,
together with some deoxygenated blood, is pumped out from the cavum
arteriosum through the left systemic trunk (turtles) or both systematic trunks
(squamata).