Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 23, 2018

See an Alligator Devour Another Alligator in These Gruesome Photos

In a marsh near coastal Texas, a young alligator recently met a grisly end — as a meal for another, much bigger alligator. A photographer happened to be nearby and captured the alligator cannibalism, as the hungry beast gulped down its prey. The small alligator was more than a mouthful...

Jan 25, 2019

How Alligators Survive in a Frozen Pond: They 'Snorkel'

As temperatures dipped along the U.S. East Coast, alligators at a sanctuary park in North Carolina figured out a cute way to survive in their icy homes: They poked their noses out of the water as it began to freeze over, their scaly snorkels becoming their only conduit for oxygen....

Mar 27, 2019

Take It from the 'Crocodile Lady': Conservation Needs More Women (Op-Ed)

Natalia Rossi is the manager of the Cuba Program for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). This article is part of Women's History Month, and celebrates women in science. Rossi contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. I, a crocodile scientist, am a woman in conservation. As...

Apr 12, 2019

Football-Size 'Bugs' Feast on an Alligator in This Creepy Deep-Sea Video

In a creepy video fit for a scene in a horror movie, nightmarish bugs that almost look like lobsters emerge on the seafloor to attack the corpse of an alligator, using their mandibles to break through the scaly skin and feed on the juicy insides. The carcass is lying a...

Jun 21, 2019

This 12-Foot, 463-Lb. Alligator Went Head to Head with a Semitruck

A 12-foot-long (3.7 meters) alligator weighing a lumbering 463 lbs. (210 kilograms) was lying on its back in the middle of a highway exit when trapper Broderick Vaughan showed up in the early morning of June 3. Vaughan, there in his capacity as a contractor for the Florida Fish and...

Jul 22, 2019

Crocodiles Are Breeding Near a Nuclear Power Plant (No, They're Not Radioactive)

Hundreds of crocodiles make their home in a network of canals in southern Florida. These channels also happen to carry water that cools a nearby nuclear power plant. But don't worry — these crocodiles aren't mutants, monstrous or radioactive. In fact, the reptiles are thriving in these waters. American crocodiles...

Jan 14, 2020

New Bone-Eating Life Form Discovered in Bizarre Alligator-Corpse Study

Once upon a research grant, scientists strapped three dead alligators into weighted harnesses and deposited the corpses 6,600 feet (2 kilometers) down in the Gulf of Mexico. The first gator was overrun with giant pink crustaceans within a day and slowly eaten from the inside out. The second gator was...

Jun 12, 2020

Ancient crocodile walked on two legs

A hefty, 10-foot-long (3 meters) crocodile relative had an odd way of getting around 120 million years ago in what is now South Korea. The huge beast walked on its two hind legs like a T. rex, researchers said after analyzing footprints left behind by the reptile. There are no...

Sep 4, 2020

Endangered croc gives piggyback ride to 100 babies after mating with '7 or 8 females'

Picking the kids up from school takes on a different meaning for crocodylian parents. In this photo, taken by India-based photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee, a male freshwater gharial shows us why. Bobbing in the waters of northern India's National Chambal Sanctuary, the croc waits as more than 100 of his month-old...

Nov 30, 2020

Alligators can regrow their tails, surprising scientists

Cornered by a dangerous predator, a gecko can self-amputate its still twitching tail, creating a fleeting moment of distraction - a chance for the lizard to flee with its life. Small reptiles such as geckos and skinks are well known for this remarkable ability to sacrifice and then rapidly regrow...

Dec 23, 2020

Ancient 'swamp king' monster croc once terrorized Australia

A monster croc spanning 16 feet (5 meters) ruled the waterways of south-eastern Queensland in Australia millions of years ago. Researchers from the University of Queensland identified the reptilian giant — now dubbed “swamp king — after studying its fossilized 25-inch-long (65 centimeters) skull, which was first uncovered in the...

Feb 17, 2021

Giant 14-foot-long crocodile found with human remains in stomach

Human remains have been found inside the stomach of a 14-foot-long (4.2 meters) crocodile on an island north of Queensland, Australia. According to local authorities, the remains likely belong to Andrew Heard, a 69-year-old fisherman who went missing from the area on Feb. 11. Heard was last seen that Thursday...

Feb 27, 2021

Alligators in Oklahoma turn into 'popsicles' sticking out of the frozen water

Oklahomans came face-to-face with popsicle-like alligators — reptiles whose snouts were sticking straight out of the icy water — when the cold snap hit the American South this month. But why were these alligators snorkeling in such cold weather? Why weren't they sunning on the banks or hiding in their...

Apr 29, 2021

Mystery of extinct horned crocodile solved after 150 years

After almost 150 years of controversy, scientists have finally solved the classification mystery surrounding the extinct horned crocodile and determined exactly where this cryptic croc belongs on the tree of life. The extinct horned crocodiles (Voay robustus) were endemic to Madagascar as far back as 9,000 years ago and lived...

Aug 25, 2021

Eerie albino alligator babies hatched at Florida animal park

What's tiny, toothy and devoid of pigment? Two new baby albino alligators born at a wildlife attraction in Florida. The rare reptiles hatched this summer at Wild Florida in Kenansville, Florida. They're the babies of 27-year-old Snowflake and 16-year-old Blizzard, a pair of albino alligators the zoo and safari park...