It’s a brave beast that bites this tail. The spiky appendage belongs to an armadillo girdled lizard, as does the mouth that’s biting it. The reptile is the sole member of the genus Ouroborus, named after the mythical serpent that ate its own tail – a symbol of continuity, eternity, rebirth and cycles of life. […]
Tag: lizard
“When they use these spines, they puncture them really deeply into their attacker. They can deliver venom into the wound”
In a new study, researchers compared the features of 30 different stingray spines to find out why some break off while others remain sturdy Scientists have gained a fascinating insight into how stingrays‘ iconic spines differ across species and the trade-off between different features. “Stingray spines are highly modified scales,” says Emily Poulin, a PhD candidate […]
Australia’s earless dragon is so rare it was thought extinct, until two ecologists got an unexpected surprise…
Deep within the grasslands west of Melbourne, Australia, a population of Victorian grassland earless dragons has been quietly living and reproducing out of sight of humans. So out of sight, that there hasn’t been a verifiable record since 1969 despite several targeted searches, and many feared that the species was extinct. However, in January 2023, […]
Forget Harry Potter these creatures have real-life invisibility cloaks… 10 weird, translucent animals you can see right though
There are many varied and clever forms of camouflage in the natural world, from the colour-changing prowess of chameleons and cuttlefish to the mimicry of orchid mantis‘ and leaf-tailed geckos, to the eye-boggling spots and stripes of zebra and tigers. But one of the weirdest has to be the transparent animal. Why are some animals transparent? One of the most out-the-box solutions to […]
“Hunger drives the lizard to make a second attempt.” Watch brutal BBC footage of an opossum fighting off a huge lizard to save her babies
In footage captured for the BBC TV film Komodo: The Deadly Bite, a monitor lizard tries to steal from an opossum nest Monitor lizards are the world’s second largest lizard (after the Komodo dragon). There are 50 species of monitor lizard and all but two are carnivorous. The lace monitor, also known as the tree […]
Nonnative Lizard Seen Strolling in Florida: It’s ‘Huge’
Alarge lizard was spotted walking near a street in Southwest Florida last week, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said they believe it a nonnative Asian water monitor. In a video posted to Facebook last Monday by Renee Aland, the lizard is seen walking into a wooded area, away from the street. Aland […]
Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard – Quraish
Whilst birding recently in the Tanoumah area I came across a Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard Acanthodactylus opheodurus down a tree filled wadi. The lizards were very active even during the hottest part of the day and where always found near small low-lying plants with hard sandy soil. It is superficially similar to its larger congener Acanthodactylus […]
Mammals of Kruger Park
In my last post from South Africa, I will share some photos of mammals and reptiles we encountered in Kruger Park. Even though we did not find any surprising animals, it was exciting to see large numbers of common mammals. After the low densities we had experienced in Hluhluwe, Kruger Park felt like the Real […]