Scientists in Japan have outfitted nine Japanese rat snakes (Elaphe climacophora and E. quadrivirgata) with tracking devices with dosimeters, radiation measuring tools, to get measure the radioactivity in and around Fukushima, nearly 10 years after the tsunami and nuclear disaster struck Japan.…
The name is certainly peculiar, but the so-called penis snake is actually a caecilian and it was recorded living in Florida’s Miami-Date County in October 2019. The single, live amphibian was captured during a routine electroshock survey of a waterway,…
Someone apparently released eight large constricting snakes into a park in Washington State. The snakes, two of which are Boa constrictors, and one a ball python, were captured July 22 by the Camas Police Department's animal control. The remaining five…
Geckos are known for their sticky toe pads. In fact, researchers have studied the stickiness of toe pads of geckos and have found that some species can support weights of up to 132 kilograms with their sticky toes. A study…
A veterinarian in Australia performed a successful surgery on a green tree frog that had a hole in its chest. Brisbane veterinarian Dr. Meaghan Barrow told ABC Radio Brisbane that the little amphibian, which measured less than 2 cm in…
Researchers with the University of Western Ontario have used a blood clotting enzyme called reptilase or batroxobin to create a glue that is so strong in its properties that it can stop bleeding in mere seconds. Western University bioengineer Kibret…
A new report from the University of Adelaide and the Monitor Conservation Research Society has found that all four species of the shingleback skink (Trachydosaurus sp.) are being traded across Asia, Europe and North America. The report noted that the…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was sued July 1 by the Waterkeeper Alliance and others for its decision against listing the Eastern hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus a. alleganiensis ) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. It is…
Two different lizard species, the Anolis lizards of the Caribbean and the Draco lizards of Southeast Asia learned the same skills in spite of being totally different species on the opposite sides of the earth, according to researchers with the…
A truck driver in the Northern Territories of Australia happened upon a black-headed python (Aspidites melanocephalus) that was cruising up the middle of a dirt road, not even trying to cross it. So the truck driver, whose twitter handle is…
A man on Marco Island in Florida has acquired a vacant plot of land next to his home to ensure that the gopher tortoises that live on the plot are ensured a lifetime of free rent in the form of…
Populations of the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), a threatened species and the official state frog of the Golden State, were bolstered with the introduction, in 2014, of frog tadpoles into the Santa Monica mountains by U.S. National Park Service…
A venomous snake identified by the Raleigh, NC police department as a zebra (Naja nigricincta) spitting cobra, has been reported missing from a keeper in north Raleigh, according to a news alert on News Observer. The department’s animal control unit…
Steven Johnson was out herping and recording video in Maryland for his YouTube channel when, while walking down a path, he was bitten by a copperhead snake (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen). Johnson was on a trail in the Marshy Point Nature…
While unique leopard gecko morphs are always sought after amongst reptile keepers, some combinations create genetics that are detrimental to the lizards. A case in point is that of the “lemon frost” leopard gecko morph. This morph has been show…
A 3 1/2 foot, 3 lb nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) has gone missing from Little Rays Reptile Zoo and Nature Centre in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. The reptile may have escaped through the back door of the zoo, which was left…
Herpetologist Frederick Boyce of the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores in North Carolina, had just recorded video footage of an Eastern kingsnake (Lampropeltis g. getula) eating a juvenile cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) when a larger cottonmouth was fleeing from the…
Land owned by the San Francisco International Airport is home to the largest concentration of San Francisco garter snakes discovered to date, according to a study commissioned by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The 180 acres of both…
Researchers studying an emerging disease that is killing tadpoles in North America have found instances of the disease in tadpoles in Panama and the United Kingdom. The disease, called Severe Perkinsea Infection (SPI) has been killing tadpoles in the United…
Early this month two would-be tortoise thieves attempted to steal Jasmine, a 27-year-old Galapagos tortoise from Jerry Fife, an expert on tortoises and former contributing writer to REPTILES magazine. The suspects, a man and a woman, entered the compound of…
Researchers with Barcelona's Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont have confirmed a new species of lizard of the family Oculudentavis, Oculudentavis naga. A similar reptile, Oculudentavis khaungraae, was mistakenly identified in 2020 as the smallest known bird and was later…
After more than a decade of petitions and lawsuits, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has protected the Neuse River waterdog salamander under the Endangered Species Act. The critical habitat in which the salamander is protected includes 779 river miles (up…
Ben Davis sees a lot of snakes when he is out driving the roads of Mississippi, but a few months ago while behind the wheel, one snake crossing the road caused him to turn back. "It was near Burnsville in…
The first two captive-bred Palawan forest turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis) from a captive breeding program on Palawan island in the Philippines have been released back into the wild, the fruits of a seven year effort to breed the turtles as part…
