Frogs and Reptiles News

May 22, 2025

Top Headlines

Native Turtles Return to Yosemite After Removal of Invasive Bullfrogs

May 20, 2025 — After invasive American bullfrogs 'croak,' native turtles return to Yosemite, finds a new ...

Australia's Oldest Prehistoric Tree Frog Hops 22 Million Years Back in Time

May 14, 2025 — Scientists have now discovered the oldest ancestor for all the Australian tree frogs, with distant links to the tree frogs of South ...

From Prehistoric Resident to Runaway Pet: First Tegu Fossil Found in the U.S.

May 12, 2025 — Originally from South America, the charismatic tegu made its way to the United States via the pet trade of the 1990s. But a recent discovery shows these reptiles are no strangers to the region -- ...

Antivenom Neutralizes the Neurotoxins of 19 of the World's Deadliest Snakes

May 2, 2025 — By using antibodies from a human donor with a self-induced hyper-immunity to snake venom, scientists have developed the most broadly effective antivenom to date, which is protective against the likes of the black mamba, king cobra, and tiger snakes ...

Latest Headlines

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Palatable Versus Poisonous: Eavesdropping Bats Must Learn to Identify Which Prey Is Safe to Eat

Apr. 29, 2025 — Scientists found that the fringe-lipped bat, known to eavesdrop on frog and toad mating calls to find its prey, learns to distinguish between ...

One Gene Defines the Many Patterns of Snake Skin

Apr. 24, 2025 — In many animals, skin coloration and its patterns play a crucial role in camouflage, communication, or thermoregulation. In the corn snake, some morphs display red, yellow, or pink blotches, and ...

What If Mother Earth Could Sue for Mistreatment?

Apr. 21, 2025 — The study highlights the transformative potential of the Rights of Nature, which views nature as a rights-bearing entity, not merely an object of regulation and subjugation by extractive industries. ...

Flex Appeal: 'Trade-Off' Between Armor and Efficiency in Sea Turtle Shells

Apr. 8, 2025 — A sea turtle's shell is a masterpiece. A study reveals that marine turtle shells combine flexibility and strength to protect against predators like sharks and stress while optimizing movement. This ...

How This Tiny Snake Could Change Our View of Genetics

Apr. 2, 2025 — By analyzing the flowerpot snake's unique genome, scientists are uncovering how the tiny reptile repairs its DNA and prevents harmful mutations. The findings provides valuable insights into genetic ...

Scientists Unlock Frogs' Antibacterial Secrets to Combat Superbugs

Mar. 25, 2025 — Engineers have derived potent new antibiotics from a frog's secretions. The new molecules demonstrated capabilities on par with existing last-resort antibiotics, without harming human cells or ...

Rare Frog Rediscovered After 130 Years

Mar. 11, 2025 — A team of researchers has rediscovered a frog species which has not been seen in more than 130 years. First described in 1902, Alsodes vittatus had evaded detection since then, despite multiple ...

Amphibians Bounce-Back from Earth's Greatest Mass Extinction

Mar. 4, 2025 — Ancient frog relatives survived the aftermath of the largest mass extinction of species by feeding on freshwater prey that evaded terrestrial predators, academics have ...

Snakes on Sado Island Coexist Through Differentiation of Activity Time, Habitat, and Diet

Feb. 28, 2025 — Sado Island, Japan, is inhabited by seven species of snakes, the largest number in any isolated island in Japan, except for the subtropical Ryukyu ...

Turtles Change Nesting Patterns in Response to Climate Change

Feb. 20, 2025 — New research shows that turtles are responding to climate change by nesting ...

The Cost of Preventing Extinction of Australia's Priority Species

Feb. 3, 2025 — A new study has estimated it would cost $15.6 billion per year for 30 years to prevent extinction for 99 of Australia's priority species. The research highlights the urgent need for increased ...

Cavity-Nesting Birds Decorate With Snake Skin to Deter Predators

Jan. 16, 2025 — When a bird drapes its nest with snake skin, it isn't just making an interesting decor choice. Researchers find that for some birds, it keeps predators at ...

Deep Learning Designs Proteins Against Deadly Snake Venom

Jan. 15, 2025 — New proteins not found in nature have now been designed to counteract certain highly poisonous components of snake venom. The deep learning, computational methods for developing these ...

A Fast-Moving Belly Flop: Researchers Unveil the Unique Skills of Cricket Frogs

Jan. 10, 2025 — The way cricket frogs move across the surface of water has long been thought to resemble walking on water, but researchers have now discovered a different ...

Herbivore or Carnivore? A Toolbox for the Study of Extinct Reptiles

Jan. 8, 2025 — Evolution has resulted in the development of both herbivores and carnivores -- but how? What type of food did extinct vertebrates eat? And how can we gain insight into the diets of these creatures? ...

Striking New Moray Eel Discovered in Central Indo-Pacific River Mouths, Named After God of the Underworld

Dec. 31, 2024 — A new species of black, slender moray eel has chosen the road less traveled, thriving in dim and muddy river mouths, unlike most of its marine relatives. It is found across the Central Indo-Pacific, ...

How Do Monkeys Recognize Snakes So Fast?

Dec. 26, 2024 — A researcher has found that the rapid detection of snakes by monkeys is because of the presence of snake scales as a visual cue. His findings highlight an evolutionary adaptation of primates to ...

It's Complicated: Researchers Discover Unexpected Complexity of Sexual Differentiation in African Clawed Frog

Dec. 16, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered unexpected diversity in the genetic processes that determine the sex of the African clawed frog, a significant discovery in what was already one of the most widely studied ...

World's Oldest Lizard Wins Fossil Fight

Nov. 26, 2024 — A storeroom specimen that changed the origins of modern lizards by millions of years has had its identity ...

New Era in Amphibian Biology

Nov. 26, 2024 — Amphibians hold a significant place in evolution, representing the transition from aquatic to terrestrial lifestyles. They are crucial for understanding the brain and spinal cord of tetrapods -- ...

Scientists Develop Groundbreaking Method for Detecting DNA of Invasive Snakes in Florida

Nov. 22, 2024 — Scientists have developed a pioneering tool that can pinpoint where invasive species have been, aiding eradication ...

Frog Populations Once Decimated by Disease Mount a Major Comeback

Nov. 14, 2024 — Thanks to the consistent and focused efforts of researchers and conservationists to save, then reintroduce, mountain yellow-legged frogs to lakes in Yosemite National Park, their populations are ...

A New Wrinkle in Turtles: Their Genomes Fold in a Unique Way, Researchers Find

Nov. 11, 2024 — A study described the three-dimensional architecture of turtle genomes, which fold in a configuration unlike any other animal observed so ...

New Study Maps Dramatic 100-Million-Year Explosion in Color Signals Used by Animals

Nov. 7, 2024 — A recent study finds that color vision evolved in animals more than 100 million years before the emergence of colorful fruits and flowers. And there has been a dramatic explosion of color signals in ...

Pythons Can Swallow Even Bigger Prey Than Scientists Realized

Oct. 28, 2024 — Burmese pythons can consume prey even larger than scientists realized, according to a new study. That means more animals are on the menu across southern Florida, where the nonnative, invasive snakes ...

Move Along, Moose: Study Reveals the 'Most Canadian' Animals

Oct. 25, 2024 — What is the 'most Canadian' animal? Spoiler: it's not the beaver, or the moose. A new study ranks species of terrestrial vertebrates in Canada by their level of Canadian evolutionary ...

Turtle Genome Provides New Clues on the Evolution of Vertebrates

Oct. 21, 2024 — Scientists have generated the genome assemblies of two hidden-neck turtles, unpublished until now. The results, which revealed a new three-dimensional structure of the genome within the phylogenetic ...

Environmental DNA and Epidemics in Wood Frogs

Oct. 17, 2024 — Environmental DNA, also known as eDNA, is genetic material shed from animals and plants that scientists can use to tell what kinds of organisms are living in an environment. However, scientists ...

Seven New Frog Species Discovered in Madagascar: Sounds Like Something from Star Trek

Oct. 15, 2024 — Researchers have discovered seven new species of tree frogs that make otherworldly calls in the rainforests of Madagascar. Their strange, high-pitched whistling calls sound more like sound effects ...

Snakes in the City: Ten Years of Wildlife Rescues Reveal Insights Into Human-Reptile Interactions

Oct. 2, 2024 — An extensive exploration of ten years of wildlife rescue data reveals the complex interactions between humans and reptiles in Sydney's urban landscape, where the venomous red-bellied black snake ...