One of the enduring controversies in evolution is why snakes evolved their long, limbless bodies. A new study suggests snakes may have lost their legs at sea, before crawling ashore.
Articles on Reptiles
Displaying 101 - 120 of 124 articles
Embryos greedily want more resources than their fair share. New research investigates how early in evolution their hormonal tactics arose.
If you’re hearing a strange chatter in your home, you may have gecko housemates.
Have a look in your garden - you might be surprised at some of the native animals that thrive there when the weather’s hot.
A new study of the first ever snake fossil with legs suggests that snakes evolved on land rather than in the ocean, as previously thought.
Each year rangers in the Australian Capital Territory cull kangaroos as part of the territory’s Kangaroo Management Plan. This year they killed a few over 1,500 kangaroos. Even though millions of kangaroos…
You have likely been to a zoo at some point and visited their reptile house. A building where the climate control dial is stuck on the “wet sauna” setting, and filled with maniacal children competing to…
Some 220m years ago, the Triassic Period marked the beginning of the age of dinosaurs. But by the time the earliest dinosaurs were just starting to appear in the fossil record, it was distant relatives…
Among the most haunting and evocative images of Australian wildlife are the black and white photographs of the last Thylacine, languishing alone in Hobart Zoo. It’s an extraordinary reminder of how close…
Woodlands in the Australian subtropics could quickly become havens for native lizards if cleared areas are left to regrow…
Crocodiles use strategic moves to lure their prey according to new research by The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The…
Gump has lived a cossetted life, nurtured in a cage on Christmas Island. Until last year, she had two acquaintances, but misadventure claimed them both. Now there is only Gump. She’s the last known individual…
You may not have heard of the Gulbaru Gecko but you’d love it if you met it. Ancient and spectacular, this endangered gecko has one of the smallest distributions of any Australian animal. Australia is…
When asked to name an Australian lizard, most Australians would probably pick the familiar blue-tongue, stumpy lizard or bearded dragon, or perhaps the iconic thorny devil, frill-neck lizard or a goanna…
Almost one-fifth of the world’s reptiles are currently threatened with extinction. A recent study assessed 1500 species for…
You have probably heard someone utter the cliché “I grew up in a different era”. Compared to today, my youth was technologically anorexic. It was a time where you would never be told “Please turn off your…
Female Komodo dragons pay a high price for investing a lot of energy into reproduction - they only live about half the average…
Larger animals with longer legs aren’t always the fastest when sprinting, but then neither are smaller animals. Researchers…
Ancient land-crawling animals may have used the complex bone structures in their skin to process carbon dioxide, deterring…
Scientists have discovered a new species of sea snake in the Gulf of Carpenteria, northern Australia, which is unique in…
Top contributors
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PhD student studying human-saltwater crocodile conflict, Charles Darwin University
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Professor of Conservation Biology, Charles Darwin University
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Distinguished Professor of Ecology, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University
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Research Officer Herpetology, Museums Victoria Research Institute
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Associate Professor of Behavioural Ecology, Curtin University
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Director of the Wildlife Crime Research Hub, Australian Research Council Industry Laureate Fellow, Adelaide University
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Curator of Herpetology, Associate Professor of Vertebrate Zoology, University of Copenhagen
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Endeavour Research Fellow, Post-doctoral scholar, UNSW
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Post-doctoral fellow, Australian Landscape Trust, Calperum Station, James Cook University
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Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University
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Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sydney
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Associate Researcher, The University of Queensland
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John Evans Memorial Fellow, Australian Museum
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Senior Lecturer, Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape
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Professor Emeritus in Terrestrial Ecology, University of Sydney