In early 2022, the public in Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Indonesia’s popular Komodo National Park, was both pleased and dissatisfied with the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s decision…
With humans sending probes to Mars and the sun, one might think we’ve already explored the full extent of our own planet. But scientists say we’ve only begun to find…
It doesn’t sport swivelly eyes or an absurdly long tongue, but a new robot does boast of a chameleon’s most eye-catching trait: being able to change colors on demand. With…
Luke Mahler didn’t exactly set out to study lizards that could breathe underwater. But when he and fellow scientist Rich Glor were out on a research expedition in Haiti in…
Within months of newly discovered species of snakes, geckos and turtles being described (along with their locations) by scientists, traders find and harvest the animals for sale on the Internet.
Frank Glaw is no stranger to discovery. The German herpetologist has helped describe scores of new species from Madagascar, but the latest one is special: Brookesia nana is arguably the…
The native vegetation of Brazil’s vast savanna is rapidly being replaced by plantations and pastures. At risk along with the biome’s grasslands are hundreds of endemic, uniquely adapted reptile species.
A unique rainforest island lying 270 kilometers (168 miles) off Papua New Guinea is once again at the center of a tug-of-war between multiple extractive industries vying for its rich…
BOGOR, Indonesia — For nearly a century it was thought to be a separate population of a gecko species found in Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island. Now, the bent-toed gecko found in…
For more than 180 years, several soft-nosed chameleons from Madagascar sat together in a single species complex (Calumma nasutum) until scientists decided to take a closer look. They disentangled the…
Tyrone Ping had ample opportunity to admire reptiles and amphibians as a child, and this initial herpetological hobby has led to a life-long fascination. At some point when he was…
Until they looked into the mouth of a leaf-tailed gecko collected in Madagascar last year, scientists couldn’t be sure they were looking at a new species of lizard. The specimen…
Think of a reptile that’s been genetically mutated, and Godzilla springs to mind. Or maybe ninja turtles. But the real thing is here, and it’s neither hell-bent on destroying Tokyo…
COLOMBO — In 2017, herpetologist Sameera Suranjan Karunarathna and his team of researchers undertook a detailed study of lizards in more than 100 locations across Sri Lanka to record the…
From the eastern fringe of Sri Lanka’s only rainforest, Sinharaja, scientists have described a new species of day gecko, the latest to join an ever-expanding list of remarkable reptiles found…
The yellow-bellied three-toed skink is not your typical lizard. Vertebrates or animals with backbones usually reproduce in one of two ways: they either lay eggs or they give birth to…
JAKARTA — Indonesian authorities have arrested seven suspected members of a trafficking ring believed to have used Facebook and other social media to sell at least 40 Komodo dragons and…
They don’t fly, nor do they breathe fire from their mouths, but the “little dragons” of the Abronia genus are the latest craze on the pet reptile market. Far from…
JAKARTA — Locals and activists have denounced plans to build tourism infrastructure in Indonesia’s Komodo National Park, a string of sun-kissed islands best known for their resident giant lizards. Developers…
It may seem like yet another set of picture-perfect tropical islands: high cliffs and modest hills rolling into the brilliant blue Atlantic Ocean. Scrubby bushes and small rocks dominate the…
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…
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…
In a tiny, remote region of Myanmar, scientists have discovered 19 new species of strikingly patterned geckos. These lizards were found in isolated limestone hills and towers (known as karst)…
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…
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…
A 2015 study found that humans activities are driving species loss at a rate 100 times faster than historical baseline levels — which the researchers behind the study characterized as…
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…
SUKAU, Malaysia – At first blush, the muddy waters of the Kinabatangan River in northern Borneo seem to laze through a hodge-podge of sleepy fishing and farming villages. The river…
On the streets of Morocco, several species of lizards, tortoise and snakes are being sold openly for use in traditional medicine, a new study has found. Many of these species are…
