An extinct skink species that lived in what is now South Australia more than 25 million years ago has been discovered and described by researchers with the University of West Australia. The skink, Proegernia mikebulli, belongs to the family Scincidae…
Few frogs are as instantly recognizable as the chubby White's treefrog (Ranoidea caerulea). So named after John White, who first described the species in 1790, White's treefrogs tend to be mostly green or teal, even though their scientific name refers…
A 16-foot Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) was apparently sunning itself on private property when Aaron Brown and his mother spotted the reptile while driving on their property. "I drove past it and said, 'That's a big snake,'" Brown told…
A granite Burmese python (Python bivittatus) stolen last June from an Arizona reptile shop has been returned to the shop, thanks to some tireless detective work by the Glendale Police Department. The thief was caught on video and quickly identified…
Xenodermus javanicus, or the dragon snake, is a small and unique species of Colubrid snake renowned for its unusual but fascinating appearance. Also known as the Javan tubercle snake, Javan mud snake, and rough-backed litter snake, the reptile sometimes exhibits…
Researchers in Madagascar have discovered and described a new species of Brookesia chameleon that is smaller than the previous known smallest species, Brookesia micra. The tiny chameleon, Brookesia nana was found near a campsite in the Sorata massif forest area…
Ohio’s Columbus Zoo and Aquarium announced February 3 the birth of seven eastern massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus), one of the smallest rattlesnakes in the United States. The snakes, which were born January 20, are federally listed by the U.S. Fish…
Researchers in the United States wanted to know what makes sidewinder snakes move the way they do, so they took a microscopic look at the shed skin of three sidewinder snake species to find out, as well as how the…
Researchers have discovered that the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), lizard-like reptiles endemic to New Zealand and the only living member of the reptilian order Rhynchocephalia, possess two deeply divergent co-existing mitochondrial genomes, giving the cold-tolerant reptile an adaptive advantage to harsher…
Researchers in India have discovered a new species of bent-toed gecko from the Indian province of Arunachal Pradesh. Cyrtodactylus arunachalensis is brown in coloration with a blotched pattern from the base of its tail up to its nape. Males have…
The Wildlife Conservation Society in coordination with Cambodia's Department of Fisheries Conservation of the Fisheries Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Wildlife Reserves Singapore, today announced the release of 10 Southern river terrapins (Batagur affinis) into…
A new study coming out the University of Queensland in Australia has found that certain snake species that are preyed upon by venomous cobras have become neurotoxin resistant, helping them to avoid (at least those that are larger) being eaten…
As one of his last acts as president, former President Donald J. Trump pardoned a man who was convicted of snake trafficking in the early 1990s. Robert Bowker was convicted of wildlife trafficking in 1993, after pleading guilty to trafficking…
Researchers in New Zealand studying the green barking gecko (Naultinus punctatus) have determined that releasing this species in a "soft pen" rather than a straight release into the wild, enhances their chances of survival in the wild. The researchers translocated…
The brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) on Guam uses a newly described mode of snake locomotion, or movement, that enables it to climb up smooth, cylindrical surfaces. This mode, called lasso locomotion, gives the invasive species a new route to find…
A four decade study of Japan’s Okada's five-lined skink (Plestiodon latiscutatus) and its main predator, the Japanese four-lined rat snake (Elaphe quadrivirgata), shows that higher body temperatures of the skink helps them run faster and more efficiently to escape from…
Sixteen months after the last known female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) died at the Suzhou Zoo in China, a female of this critically endangered species has been discovered in Dong Mo Lake in Vietnam. The Hanoi Department of…
Two thieves entered a Peabody, MA Petco and ran off with an albino cinnamon ball python (Python regius) that they falsely told the sales clerk that they would pay for. The man and woman entered the store last week and…
A subterranean snake that was collected in the Philippines in 2006 and 2007 was misidentified in the field and spent more than 10 years in the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum before it was properly described,…
