Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 30, 2023

Newly discovered Cretaceous sea monster named after world-ending Norse serpent

Scientists have named an ancient species of giant sea lizard with angry eyebrows and a stumpy tail after Jörmungandr, a sea serpent from Norse mythology. The fearsome creature, Jǫrmungandr walhallaensis, lived 80 million years ago in an ancient sea in what is now North Dakota. If you put flippers on...

Nov 4, 2023

Earless monitor lizards: The 'Holy Grail' of reptiles that looks like a mini dragon

Name: Earless monitor lizard (Lanthanotus borneensis) Where it lives: Borneo, near streams in lowland rainforests What it eats: Earthworms, crabs and fish Why it's awesome: Earless monitor lizards are dragon-like reptiles that are so rare they're dubbed the Holy Grail of herpetology — the study of reptiles and amphibians. The...

Nov 10, 2023

Surprise discovery of snake-like lizard feared extinct leaves scientists amazed

Researchers in Australia have rediscovered a secretive lizard with tiny legs that they thought may be extinct after it evaded detection for more than 40 years. A team from the Queensland Museum and James Cook University spotted Lyon's grassland striped skinks (Austroablepharus barrylyoni) — which haven't been seen since 1981...

Jan 24, 2024

Watch chameleon erupt in color 'as if uttering her last words' in her final moments before death

In dramatic new footage, a chameleon erupts in stunning colors while in the throes of death. Using time-lapse photography, researchers captured the colorful last few hours of the reptile's short life — and the remarkable changes that took place in that time. In her last moments, her skin erupts with...

Sep 14, 2011

Battle of Ancient Beasts: Huge Crocodile vs. World's Largest Snake

In what might seem like a scene from a monster movie, an ancient 20-foot crocodile and the world's largest snake may have battled it out in Colombian forest rivers 60 million years ago. The new crocodilian was discovered in a Colombian coal mine, the same area where the large snake...

Nov 6, 2011

Ancient Monster Croc Sported Shield on Skull

LAS VEGAS — A newly described species of ancient crocodile with a strange, shield-like skull may have chowed on 13-foot (4-meter) -long fish in Cretaceous-era rivers. The croc is known by a chunk of skull excavated in Morocco and acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum of Canada from a collector....

Jan 31, 2012

Ancient Crocodile Wore Shield on Its Head

A giant prehistoric crocodile once bore a shield on its head, an ornament never before seen on these reptiles that may have been used to intimidate enemies and attract mates, researchers say. 'Shieldcroc' is the earliest ancestor of our modern crocodiles to be found in Africa, said researcher Casey Holliday,...

Feb 9, 2012

Rare Pygmy Nile Crocodile Found in New Spots

Conservationists working in Uganda are finding new areas that are home to one of the least known crocodilians in Africa, the pygmy Nile crocodile. A team of Ugandan researchers trained by the late John Thorbjarnarson, a noted crocodilian expert with the Wildlife Conservation Society, is conducting population surveys of these...

May 7, 2012

Ancient Crocodile Was World's Largest

Scientists have announced the discovery of a newfound crocodile species that may have been the largest to ever roam the Earth. The colossal reptiles trolled East African waters between 4 million and 2 million years ago, and may have snacked on human ancestors, researchers said. The largest fossil specimens recovered...

Sep 5, 2012

Are 'Crocodile Tears' Real?

Yes, observations have shown that crocodiles and their close relatives do indeed shed tears even as they rip into their prey. But scientists aren't sure why. Ancient anecdotes of crying crocodiles led to the expression crocodile tears to describe someone who shows fake sorrow. But it's unlikely that crocodiles or...

Nov 8, 2012

Crocodile Jaws More Sensitive Than Human Fingertips

Teeny-tiny bumps on the jawlines of alligators and crocodiles are more sensitive than human fingertips, new research finds. The reptiles' sensitive gently smiling jaws (to quote Lewis Carroll) may enable them to both carry their offspring in the mouths with great gentleness and to snap at prey in a split...

Feb 20, 2013

Schwing! Alligator Sports Always-Erect, Hidden Penis

Unlike many other reptiles and mammals, alligators sport permanently erect penises that hide inside their bodies, new research reveals. The reptiles sport fully erect penises made of tough, fibrous tissue that shoot out of their bodies and get pulled back in just as quickly, according to the study, which is...

Feb 22, 2013

Rare Baby Crocs Released into Wild

Nineteen baby Siamese crocodiles are being let loose in the wetlands of Laos, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced this week. The effort gives a boost to the critically endangered species, which is thought to include just 250 individuals in the wild. The rare reptiles' eggs had been incubated at...

Mar 4, 2013

Ancient Seaways Carried Alligators to South America

Crocodilian fossil skulls found in the Panama Canal may provide the missing link between the mouthy reptiles of North America and their kin in South America, scientists say. The skulls belong to two new species of ancient crocodilians (a group that today contains alligators, crocodiles, caimans and gharials) that lived...

Mar 11, 2013

Alligator Nabs New Prosthetic Tail

An alligator stuck with the ungainly name Mister Stubbs may need a new moniker now that his stump of a tail has been fitted with a lifelike prosthetic. The alligator, which lost his tail as a youth after a run-in with another gator, was brought to the Phoenix Herpetological Society...