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Reptiles

A rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus) in Hluhluwe, South Africa, performs a threat display. These snakes tend to live on the edges of human communities.

The High-Stakes Quest to Make Snakebites Survivable Took Leaps Forward This Year, With Promising New Avenues to Safer Antivenoms

A wave of fresh science is challenging a century-old treatment and offering hope to the people snakebites harm most—often far from hospitals and help

Claude lived at the California Academy of Sciences for 17 years and became a beloved celebrity.

Claude, San Francisco’s Beloved Albino Alligator and ‘Unofficial Mascot,’ Dies at Age 30

Veterinarians will conduct a full exam and necropsy to determine the cause of death, but Claude had been undergoing treatment for a suspected infection in recent weeks

Modern-day crocodiles like this one arrived in Australia about 3.8 million years ago. But a distant branch of them that lived there tens of millions of years ago included some members that dropped from trees onto prey. 

Paleontologists Unearthed Australia’s Oldest Known Crocodile Eggshells. The Reptiles’ Relatives May Have Hunted From the Trees

The eggshells belonged to an extinct group of crocs, some members of which were “drop crocs” that plunged onto prey

A spiny-tailed iguana on Clarion Island

Iguanas Are Native, Not Invasive, on This Mexican Island, DNA Study Suggests, Rewriting Conservation Ideas

The spiny-tailed iguanas of Clarion Island predate human presence in the Americas by tens of thousands of years, researchers say

Researchers have developed a promising new antivenom effective against more than a dozen venemous snake species, according to trials in mice.

Researchers Create a New Antivenom That Can Combat Bites From 17 Snake Species, Trials in Mice Suggest

Snakebites are among the deadliest neglected tropical diseases, and scientists have long been searching for more effective ways to prevent their devastating effects

An artist's rendition of a group of Nanotyrannus dinosaurs attacking a juvenile T. rex

This Tiny Tyrannosaur Could Settle a Huge Scientific Debate

A new analysis of a fossil unearthed in 2006 provides a fresh line of evidence that a separate tyrannosaur lineage called Nanotyrannus lived alongside the famous T. rex

To capture snake strikes on video, scientists put medical gel on a stick and warmed it to mimic the body temperature of a mammal. Then, they waited for the snakes to attack.

Slow-Motion Videos Reveal What Really Happens When Snakes Bite

Different snakes put their own spin on striking their prey. Scientists captured the powerful attacks on camera

These six keel-billed toucans were discovered bound and sedated in June by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. The Wildlife Confiscations Network helped find experts at qualified facilities to care for the birds.

Once Smuggled Animals Are Rescued, Law Enforcement Officers Call Her

As coordinator of the Wildlife Confiscations Network, Mandy Fischer helps match trafficked animals—from alligators to jaguars to baby monkeys—with sanctuaries and care facilities

An artistic rendering of a Joaquinraptor casali with a croc leg in its mouth.

Cool Finds

Paleontologists Discover Megaraptor Fossil With a Crocodilian’s Leg Still in Its Mouth

The finding in Argentina reveals a new megaraptor species that would have ruled at the same time as North America’s T. rex, shedding light on what it took to be a prehistoric top predator

An illustration of a Pterodactylus hatchling struggling in a tropical storm

Baby Pterosaur Fossils Reveal Mid-Flight Injury and Watery Death, Helping Solve a Paleontological Mystery

A 150-million-year-old fossil hotspot in southern Germany yields an astounding number of well-preserved juvenile pterosaurs, and scientists wondered why it contained fewer adults

Scott Adams, director of the Exotic Zoo, holds a casque-headed iguana. Eight hatchlings were produced at the zoo this summer without a father.

‘Once in a Lifetime’: Rare ‘Virgin Birth’ of Eight Iguana Babies Surprises Zookeepers in England

A female casque-headed iguana produced live hatchlings even though she has never shared an enclosure with a male

A leatherback sea turtle hatchling climbs over sargassum on a beach. In a new study, researchers timed sea turtles to see how long it took them to reach the ocean when they had to traverse piles of seaweed.

Seaweed Piles Are Slowing Down Sea Turtle Hatchlings as They Make the Dangerous Trek to the Ocean

In Florida, large mats of sargassum are increasingly washing ashore, creating another obstacle for loggerhead, leatherback and green sea turtles, new research suggests

An artist's reconstruction of what Spicomellus afer would have looked like.

Oldest Known Fossil of an Armored Ankylosaur Is ‘Far Weirder’ Than Paleontologists Expected

The 13-foot dinosaur, covered in long spikes fused into its bones, suggests ankylosaurs developed tail weapons 30 million years earlier than thought

Scientists found evidence of "inbreeding depression" among eastern massasauga rattlesnakes in Michigan.

Habitat Loss Is Leading to Inbreeding Among Michigan’s Only Species of Venomous Snake

Roads, buildings and other manmade barriers are preventing the small pit vipers from slithering around to find mates from other populations

Several species have evolved in response to human environmental impacts.

Five Astounding Ways Humans Are Driving Animal Evolution, Including Causing Lizards to Grow Longer Legs and Leading Moth Populations to Become Darker

When people build cities and introduce invasive creatures, resident critter populations sometimes adapt

Australia’s major skink (Bellatorias frerei) has evolved to combat snake venom with the same mutation found in honey badgers, according to a new study.

Scientists Discover Australian Lizards Have Mutations to Resist Snake Venom—and One Day, That Could Help Humans

A new study looking at how skinks have evolved to block venom from reaching their muscles could guide development of new antivenoms

The S. rapax fossil was initially smuggled out of Mongolia but has since been returned to the country. Its skull and a few vertebrae were lost, but not before scientists took CT scans of the skeleton.

Paleontologists Identify a ‘Rapacious’ Velociraptor Relative With Powerful Hands and a Strong Bite

The dinosaur Shri rapax likely relied on its grip strength to take down prey in what is now Mongolia

The whole Pulaosaurus qinglong skeleton

Cool Finds

Rare Fossil Suggests Some Dinosaurs May Have Sounded Like Birds and Shared Similar Vocal Anatomy

Pulaosaurus qinglong is only the second non-avian dinosaur to be discovered with a preserved bony voice box

The leaf-toed gecko has been rediscovered on Rábida Island in the Galápagos.

Small, Secretive Gecko Rediscovered in the Galápagos After Scientists Eliminate Invasive Rats

Researchers thought leaf-toed geckos were locally extinct on Rábida Island, so they were thrilled to find several of the lizards alive and well during 2019 and 2021 expeditions

New research suggests a large crocodile-like creature attacked a "terror bird" 12 million years ago.

Even Apex Predators Like ‘Terror Birds’ Had Enemies, Research Suggests

Bite marks on a fossilized leg bone found in South America suggest a crocodile-like creature attacked a massive, meat-eating bird 12 million years ago

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