Over the past few decades, more and more households have decided to forego adopting a cat or dog and instead have opted to take in a reptile companion. However, vets are split on whether this is a good idea for both humans and the animals themselves. A group of editorials appearing online in the BMJ’s […]
Tag: lizard
Wildlife At Miami’s Matheson Hammock Park
At the suggestion of Tom Obrock we made a late May trip to Florida’s east coast with the possibility of observing Bahama Mockingbird, a rare bird species in Florida, that had been reported in Fort Lauderdale at eBird. The immature Red-tailed Hawk above (image 1) was photographed near Homestead in May […]
POLL: Should the trade in endangered wildlife species be banned?
Wildlife traffickers are exploiting a legal grey area to trade in highly lucrative protected lizard species at the world’s biggest reptile fair, a Guardian investigation has discovered. Endangered animals from Latin America, New Zealand and south-east Asia are being offered for sale at prices of up to €5,000 (£3,200) a pair on the sidelines of […]
Scientists discover lizard that changes sex in the sun
A lizard that changes sex in the sun has been discovered by scientists. It is the first time the phenomenon has been seen in reptiles in the wild and could have implications for other animal species because of climate change. The cold-blooded Australian Central Bearded Dragon is widespread on red sandy areas in the semi-arid […]
Two new iguanid lizard species from the Laja Lagoon, Chile
A team of Chilean scientists discover two new species of iguanid lizards from the Laja Lagoon, Chile. The two new species are believed to have been long confused with other representatives of the elongatus-kriegi lizard complex, until recent morphological analysis diagnosed them as separate. The study was published in the 500th issue of the open […]
Colorful New ‘Dwarf Dragons’ Found in South America
Attention Game of Thrones: Three new species of “dwarf dragon” have been discovered in Peru and Ecuador, a new study says. Due to political unrest in Ecuador, it took nearly a decade for scientists to identify the reptiles, which are commonly called wood lizards. They are the Alto Tambo wood lizard (Enyalioides altotambo), rough-scaled wood […]
Striking new gecko discovered in Thailand
Sai Yok bent-toed gecko found on forested hill near Myanmar border, researchers think more species await discovery in biodiverse region A research team based in western Thailand has discovered a new gecko species in the Kanchanaburi Province, a region renowned for its number of species found nowhere else in the world. A recent publication in […]
Chameleon crisis: extinction threatens 36% of world’s chameleons
Chameleons are an unmistakable family of wonderfully bizarre reptiles. They sport long, shooting tongues; oddly-shaped horns or crests; and a prehensile tail like a monkey’s. But, of course, chameleons are most known for their astonishing ability to change the color of their skin. Over millions of years, these Old World reptiles have used this evolutionary […]