contract-law residential-lease language
Why do lease agreements commonly prohibit animals and also specifically prohibit reptiles?
<p>I was reading over my lease agreement and noticed the following clause:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>No animals or reptiles of any kind may be kept in or about the leased premises.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I thought it odd that the language seems to single out reptiles as though such creatures were somehow not included under the "animals" umbrella. I did a search of the phrase to see if it is common, and it seems that <a href="https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS784US784&amp;biw=1536&amp;bih=759&amp;ei=tZXFWui-LImTzwL8tqPACg&amp;q=lease%20%22No%20animals%20or%20reptiles%22&amp;oq=lease%20%22No%20animals%20or%20reptiles%22&amp;gs_l=psy-ab.3...141384.152587.0.153160.46.40.6.0.0.0.129.3077.31j5.37.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..3.41.3106.6..0j35i39k1j0i67k1j0i131k1j0i131i67k1j0i20i263k1j0i131i46k1j46i131k1j0i22i30k1j33i22i29i30k1j33i21k1j33i160k1.150.WV71bSNbSMQ" rel="nofollow noreferrer">many lease agreements</a> use this phrase. Why do these documents, which are otherwise quite precise and carefully worded, make such an odd distinction?</p>

<p>Because <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/animal" rel="nofollow noreferrer">animal</a> has several definitions, specifically:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>2 b</strong> : Mammal</p>
</blockquote>

<p>While you are probably thinking of:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>1</strong> : any of a kingdom (Animalia) of living things including many-celled organisms and often many of the single-celled ones (such as protozoans) that typically differ from plants in having cells without cellulose walls, in lacking chlorophyll and the capacity for photosynthesis, in requiring more complex food materials (such as proteins), in being organized to a greater degree of complexity, and in having the capacity for spontaneous movement and rapid motor responses to stimulation</p>
</blockquote>

<p>While reptiles are captured by <strong>1</strong>, they aren't by <strong>2 b</strong>. This wording aviods any dispute over which definition is meant.</p>
