Category Reptiles

RESEARCH: When the weather is too hot, Spiny Lava Lizards spend less time trying to attract a partner 

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When the weather is too hot, Spiny Lava Lizards spend less time trying to attract a partner, says an article in New Scientist (26 July 2023). In fact, they get less selective – less picky – in the heat. 

Nicola Rossi at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina, and his colleagues, studied the behaviour of the Spiny Lava Lizard (Tropidurus spinulosus), which is a reptile native to South America. 

The researchers tested two groups of Spiny Lava Lizards living in a nature reserve in Argentina. One group lives on a rocky outcrop that receives lots of sunlight with an average temperature of 30 degrees Celsius (86F). The second group lives in a zone with lots of shade trees, where the average temperature is 26.5C (80F). The researchers watched the lizards in the wild for 20 days.

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Common Wall Lizard

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The Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis) is a terrestrial reptile in the Lacertidae family of wall lizards. It is a lacertid.

The Common Wall Lizard varies in colour, but is usually mottled brown with a reticulated pattern with dark spots on its side. The male is more colourful and more patterned than the female. It has a thin, elongated appearance with a long thin tail, which is about half the length of its entire body.

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Head of a Green Tree Python

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The Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis) is a non-venomous reptile in the Pythonidae family of python snakes. It is native to the tropical regions of northern Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. 

It is bright green with a slim body and a large head. It is arboreal, living in trees. It loops itself over a tree branch, making a coil with its head in the middle. 

The shape of a snake’s head can often indicate whether it is venomous or non-venomous. Non-venomous snakes generally have a spoon-shaped, rounded head. Some venomous snakes have a triangular head. The Green Tree Python is non-venomous with a rounded head.

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Which bird can eat a baby Nile Crocodile whole?

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Which bird can eat a baby Nile Crocodile whole? 

The Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is a large freshwater reptile native to Africa. On average, it grows to 300-440 centimetres (10-14 feet) long. The female lays eggs and baby crocodiles hatch after about 90 days. A baby Nile Crocodile measures about 30 centimetres (12 inches) long. 

There is a bird that can eat a baby Nile Crocodile whole, head first.

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Which is more powerful: Alligator or Crocodile?

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Which is more powerful: Alligator or Crocodile?

The Alligator and the Crocodile are both crocodilian reptiles in the Crocodilia order. The Alligator belongs to the Alligatoridae family and the Crocodile belongs to the Crocoylidae family.

The Alligator has a U-shaped snout and the Crocodile has a V-shaped snout.

The Alligator’s teeth are not visible when the mouth is closed, whereas the Crocodile’s teeth are visible when the mouth is closed. 

Both the Alligator and the Crocodile have between 74 and 80 teeth. 

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What is the most venomous snake in the world?

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What is the most venomous snake in the world?

The most venomouns snake in the world is found only in central east Australia – in the arid outback. It is shy, and not aggressive. It lives in holes and burrows in the ground, to keep out of the severe heat. Therefore, it rarely comes in contact with humans. The victims have been herpetologists – people who study and keep snakes – and they survived because they were treated with anti-venom. 

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Caucasian Agama Lizard

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The Caucasian Agama (Paralaudakia caucasia) is a small agamid reptile in the Agamidae family of rock lizards. 

The Caucasian Agama has an elongated, flat body. Its scales are light-brown to olive coloured with yellowish dark-edged markings on its back. It does not have a throat pouch or loose skin under its chin. It has a light coloured underbelly. It has a rounded tail with large scales arranged in rings. 

Its yellowish limbs are long and strong. Its fourth toe on its hind (back) leg is longer than the other toes. 

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Yellow-Spotted River Turtle

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The Yellow-Spotted River Turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) is a freshwater reptile in the Podocnemididae family of river turtles. It is also known as the Yellow-Headed Sideneck Turtle.

The Yellow-Spotted River Turtle has a black or brown oval-shaped carapace (upper shell). It has yellow spots on the side of its head. The spots fade with age. It has a side neck – it bends its head to fit under its shell instead of sticking its head in and out of its shell.

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Does a Lizard Shed its Skin?

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Most people know that a snake sheds its skin, but does a lizard shed its skin?

A lizard is a reptile. Reptiles include snakes, lizards, crocodiles, alligators, caimans, turtles, tortoises, and terrapins. Reptiles lay soft-shelled eggs on land.

The Balkan Slow Worm (Pseudopus apodus) is also a reptile. It is not a worm and it is not a snake. It is a legless lizard. It actually has small (almost invisible), undeveloped rear legs, but it does not use its legs for locomotion. It is not a snake because it has eyelids (snakes do not have eyelids). It has a long tail. It is also known as the Pallas’s Glass Lizard, the European Glass Lizard, the Sheltopusik, or the Giant Russian Legless Lizard.

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Tree-Crevice Skink

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The Tree-Crevice Skink (Egernia striolata) is a reptile in the Scincidae family of skink lizards. It is a squamate. It is also called the Tree Skink.

The Tree-Crevice Skink has a thick, flattened body with small eyes. It has 26-36 rows of scales. It is dark-black to grey-brown with a pale stripe of scales down its body from its head to its tail. Its underbelly is pale or cream-coloured. It eyes have vertical, narrow pupils.

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Nose-Horned Viper

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The Nose-Horned Viper (Vipera ammodytes ammodytes) is a highly venomous reptile in the Viperidae family of viper snakes. It is a viperid. It is also known as the Horned Viper and Western Sand Viper. Scientists think it might be the most dangerous snake in Europe.

The Nose-Horned Viper has a head covered with small, irregular scales that can be smooth or slightly keeled (ridged). It has 10-13 small scales around its eyes. The nasal (nose) scale is large that looks like a horn with 9-17 smaller scales along it, but it is soft and flexible. 

The male has irregular dark-brown, dark-grey, or black markings and a thick black stripe from its eye to its jaw. The male has V-shaped markings on its back like a zig-zag pattern. The female lacks the dark V-shaped markings on its body, and is browner and more bronze-coloured than the male. Its underbelly can be grey, yellowish-brown, or pinkish. Both have a black tongue and golden or copper-coloured eyes.

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Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman

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The Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus) is a reptile in the Alligatoridae family of alligators. It is also known as the Musky Caiman and the Smooth-Fronted Caiman.

The Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman looks like a small alligator with a broad head and a U-shaped snout (nose). The adult is dark-brown to black, while juveniles are brown with black bands. It has an upturned lip. The upper jaw extends further than the lower jaw. It has strong scales for protection. It has brown eyes with vertical slits.

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Hermann’s Tortoise

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The Hermann’s Tortoise (Testudo hermanni) is a small to medium-sized reptile in the Testudinoidea family of land chelonians. It is related to the Greek Tortoise (Testudo graeca). 

The Hermann’s Tortoise has a slightly domed, rounded shell, called a carapace. The carapace is black and pale-yellow with markings, but the colour fades with age, and becomes grey or straw-coloured. Its underbelly shell, called a plastron, is creamy-beige. It has no teeth, but it has a strong, short beak. It has scaly brownish-grey, stumpy legs with five claws. Its back legs are thicker than its front legs. The tip of its tail has a spur (a horny, short spike). 

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