When Lonesome George died in June 2012, it was the end of an entire species. He was the last surviving Pinta giant tortoise (Chelonoidis abingdonii), a Galapagos conservation icon who…
Everyone loves turtles. Turtles and tortoises are often depicted as tranquil creatures possessing wisdom and longevity. These reptiles are indeed ancient survivors with a fossil record dating back over 200…
There’s still so much we don’t know about life on planet Earth that scientists discover new species with whom we share this planet nearly every day. For instance, this year…
The fury of rodent mothers may have given rise to the toughest of all snakes. The skin of the Calabar burrowing python (Calabaria reinhardtii), a one-meter-long snake native to equatorial…
This Atlantic hurricane season saw six Category 3-5 storms batter the Caribbean. Some already threatened species, especially birds, took a major hit. Others endured.
On today’s episode, we speak with the legendary Jane Goodall, who truly needs no introduction, and will have a direct report from the United Nations’ climate talks happening now in…
Across the swath of vertebrate lifeforms that inhabit Earth, scientists have a pretty good idea about where most of the known land mammals, birds and amphibians live. That makes identifying…
On the islands of Wallacea, one of the world’s hottest biodiversity hotspots, a quiet yet deadly invasion is underway. The poisonous Asian common toad’s (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) journey from island to…
Zoological Survey of India has, for the first time, published a detailed record of the animal and protozoa species of the Sunderban of West Bengal. The compendium, called Fauna of…
14 million Amazon animals and plants — caiman skins, turtles, parrots, orchids and more — are legally exported annually. Illegal trafficking levels are unknown.
On June 28, 2017, conservationists chanced upon a nest containing 19 eggs of the extremely rare Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) in the Sre Ambel District of Koh Kong Province in Cambodia. This…
A 350-kilometer drive away from the frenzy of the nearest city, the thatched desert village of Lavavolo, Madagascar seems to lie in infinite stillness. But homeostasis is never a given.…
BOGOR, Indonesia — Scientists have discovered two new reptiles in the jungles of Sumatra island — home to the nation’s highest deforestation rate. Lycodon sidiki has become the seventh species…
Dealers in India are trying to sell dried penises of illegally caught monitor lizards to unwitting customers looking to buy a rare Indian plant root called "Hatha Jodi", a wildlife…
The Bronx Zoo’s wild animal keeper sends out a special call, and eight of the most critically endangered animals on earth take a break from basking to scoot up the…
A new species of Asian mountain toad belonging to the genus Ophryophryne has been discovered in the the Truong Son or Annamite mountains of Vietnam, an area of high diversity…
Beneath their prehistoric-looking shells, turtles conceal an extraordinary ability to hold their breath underwater, going without oxygen for hours, even months, at a time. This cellular-level capacity to survive underwater…
It started out as an interest in lacertids – a family of small lizards native to Asia, Europe, and Africa – an itch to “understand what was going on with…
Malaysian customs officials have seized 330 tortoises that were smuggle into the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The tortoises, which included 325 Radiated tortoises as well as five Ploughshare tortoises, were…
On an island in Papua New Guinea, scientists say they have rediscovered a species of monitor lizard thought to be "lost" to science since the 1800s. The medium-sized lizard was…
