Frogs and Reptiles News

January 18, 2025

Top Headlines

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 toxin-neutralizing proteins offer hope for creating safer, more ...

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? In living animals, we can simply observe what they ...

Latest Headlines

updated 5:45pm EST

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

Dec. 30, 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

These Tadpoles Have Discovered a Unique Way of Not Contaminating Their Water Supply: Not Pooping

Sep. 25, 2024 — The Eiffinger's tree frog found in Japan has a unique biological adaptation: its tadpoles do not defecate during their early developmental stages to reduce the risk of contaminating their small ...

'Scuba-Diving' Lizards Use Bubble to Breathe Underwater and Avoid Predators

Sep. 17, 2024 — A species of semi-aquatic lizard produces a special bubble over its nostrils to breathe underwater and avoid ...

Giant Fanged Frog Went Unrecognized in Philippines Because It Was Nearly Identical to Even Larger Species

Sep. 9, 2024 — Researchers published findings describing a new species of fanged frog, named Limnonectes cassiopeia, from the Philippine island of ...

Researchers Find Ideal Place to Take Reptiles' Pulse Rate

Sep. 5, 2024 — Researchers have discovered they can consistently measure reptiles' pulse rate in an easy-to-reach spot on the back of the head, and that pulse rate corresponds to the heart rate in healthy ...

Tarantulas Have Surprising Partnerships With Other Species and Their Hairiness May Be a Defense Mechanism

Aug. 22, 2024 — A new study reveals that tarantulas are often on friendly terms with amphibians, reptiles, and even army ants, which are known to feed on spiders. The researchers suggest that the dense hair covering ...

Scientists Condition Crocodiles to Avoid Killer Cane Toads

Aug. 15, 2024 — Scientists have trialled a new way to protect freshwater crocodiles from deadly invasive cane toads spreading across northern ...

Komodo Dragons Have Iron-Coated Teeth to Rip Apart Their Prey

July 24, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that the serrated edges of Komodo dragons' teeth are tipped with iron. The study gives new insight into how Komodo dragons keep their teeth razor-sharp and may provide ...

New Snake Discovery Rewrites History, Points to North America's Role in Snake Evolution

July 19, 2024 — A new species of fossil snake unearthed in Wyoming is rewriting our understanding of snake evolution. The discovery, based on four remarkably well-preserved specimens found curled together in a ...

Using AI to Scrutinize, Validate Theories on Animal Evolution

July 18, 2024 — By harnessing the power of machine learning, researchers have constructed a framework for analyzing what factors most significantly contribute to a species' genetic ...

Researchers Find That Frogs Can Quickly Increase Their Tolerance to Pesticides

July 16, 2024 — Although there is a large body of research on pests evolving tolerances for the pesticides meant to destroy them, there have been considerably fewer studies on how non-target animals in these ...

Frog 'Saunas' a Lifeline for Endangered Frog Populations

June 26, 2024 — New biologist-designed shelters will help endangered frogs survive the devastating impacts of a deadly fungal disease by regulating their body temperature to fight off ...

Lazy Predator: A New Species of Mountain Pitviper from China

June 13, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a new species of medium-sized venomous snake in Yunnan, China. Ovophis jenkinsi is dark brownish-grey in color with trapezoidal patches on its back. It is endemic to ...

Fishy Mystery of Marine Reptile Solved

June 5, 2024 — The identity of a prehistoric marine reptile has finally been revealed after experts discovered that some of its remains actually belonged to ...

Captivating Blue-Colored Ant Discovered in India's Remote Siang Valley

June 3, 2024 — A new species of blue ant was discovered in Yingku village in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeastern India. It was named Paraparatrechina neela, after the word 'neela' which means blue in various ...

The Missing Puzzle Piece: A Striking New Snake Species from the Arabian Peninsula

May 30, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a new distinctive and secretive snake species in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. The new species is widely distributed and fills much of the existing distribution gap ...