"Reptilia" is the second single lifted from Room on Fire, the second album of acclaimed American garage rock/post-punk band The Strokes. The single's B-side contains "Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men", where lead singer Julian Casablancas duets with Regina Spektor. The official release date was delayed slightly after Casablancas objected to the song being credited as "The Strokes and Regina Spektor", claiming that it should read "by Regina Spektor & The Strokes".
The title "Reptilia" refers to the "Reptilian brain", the central part of one's brain that handles basic emotions such as love and hate.
The cover of the single features the artwork from the cabinet of the 1980 arcade game Centipede by Atari.
The music video for the song was their first that was not directed by Roman Coppola. Instead they chose Jake Scott to shoot the video, which features close shots of the band members' faces and hands while performing the song. At the end of the video, Julian Casablancas blows a puff of smoke at the camera lens.
This song has been used on the UK motoring program Top Gear during Richard Hammond's review of the Chevrolet Corvette.
The song is a playable track in the video games Rock Band and in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The minor difference is the guitar tracks are slightly louder than the original and the overexposed effect on Casablancas' vocals is removed.
