Reptiles, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 6, 2019

This Fungus Makes Snakes Look Like Mummies. It Just Turned Up in California.

A newly emerging disease infects snakes and causes their skin to crust, eyes to cloud and faces to swell — and now, a stricken serpent has been spotted in California. This is the first case of snake fungal disease seen in the state, according to a statement from the California...

Nov 20, 2019

Beautifully Preserved Skull of 'Biblical Snake' with Hind Legs Discovered

On very rare occasions, an exceptional fossil is unearthed that provides an extraordinary glimpse into the evolution of a group of organisms. This time, it is the beautifully preserved skull of an ancient snake with rear limbs, Najash rionegrina. Our study of this fossil has been published in the journal...

Dec 9, 2019

Hunters Set to Round Up Giant Burmese Pythons in Florida Challenge

The state of Florida is preparing to host the Super Bowl in January … and to wipe out as many invasive pythons as possible. On Dec. 5, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the date for Python Bowl 2020. The annual Python Challenge recruits hunters in Florida and trains them to...

Feb 18, 2020

Florida officials cordon off park for annual snake orgy

Valentine's Day is behind us, and Cupid has trained his bow on the lakes, rivers and swamps of Florida. That's right: It's snake orgy season. Every spring, the water snakes of Florida (genus Nerodia) slither out of their waterside trees to look for love around the state's countless freshwater coasts....

Jun 8, 2020

Why these rattlesnakes are declining at an alarming rate

Just like the hordes of mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners that migrate from their comfortable couches to more open spaces in spring, western rattlesnakes are also on the move, emerging from deep winter dens to their summer foraging grounds. For years, our research group at Thompson Rivers University has...

Oct 26, 2020

Rare, 2-headed snake discovered by Florida house cat

What has two brains, no legs and the best profile pic on Facebook? That would be this rare, two-headed racer snake recently discovered by a house cat in Palm Harbor, Florida. The cat's family was rudely introduced to the supernatural serpent about a month ago when their cat, Olive, dropped...

Dec 31, 2020

Would you eat a python to save the Everglades?

Floridians could begin seeing a new slithery item on their menus — Burmese pythons. The invasive species is so out of control in the state that the government may begin encouraging the new meal as a way to help keep the snake's numbers under control, as long as they aren't...

Jan 12, 2021

Bizarre new type of locomotion discovered in invasive snakes

Brown tree snakes can turn their bodies into lassos to shimmy up power poles and trees — a superpower that has allowed the species to invade new territory, new research has found. This is the first time in nearly 100 years that a new type of snake locomotion has been...

Apr 8, 2021

Masquerading, deadly snake discovered and named after shape-shifting Chinese goddess

A deadly new snake has been discovered after spending decades masquerading as a much less dangerous species, according to researchers — who named the snake after a shape-shifting serpent goddess from a Chinese folktale. The new species is a type of krait snake found in Southwest China and northern Myanmar...

Jul 19, 2021

Snake photos: Pythons swallow crocodiles and other animals … whole

Deer, crocodiles and even a human are just some of the odd meals engulfed by pythons. How do they gorge on such giant fare? Python snakes don't dislocate their jaws (a common myth), but instead rely on the springiness of the tissues connecting their jawbones. Unlike in mammals, python snakes...

Aug 19, 2021

Sexually frustrated sea snakes mistake scuba divers for potential mates

A scuba diver off Australia noticed some odd behavior whenever he came into contact with male sea snakes: The venomous reptiles would coil around his fins, licking the water around him and even sometimes chasing him underwater. Now, he knows why: It was mating season, and the males thought he...

Aug 19, 2021

Rattlesnake rattles use auditory illusion to trick human brains

The menacing rattle of a rattlesnake's tail is far more sophisticated than first thought, as the sound can create an auditory illusion that suggests the venomous snake is closer to a potential threat than it really is, according to a new study. Scientists think that rattlesnakes rattle the keratin structure...

Sep 25, 2021

Which came first: Snake fangs or venom?

A snake's lightning-quick bite is the perfect way to inject venom into prey. Aiding and abetting this violent attack are the long, curved fangs snakes have evolved to dose their next meal with venom — toxins that hurt, disable or even kill their victim. But which came first: the venom...

Oct 18, 2021

Why did more than 90 rattlesnakes move into a California home?

A homeowner in California got a surprise after calling a reptile rescue to handle a few rattlesnake sightings in their home: They were sharing their space with at least 92 of the snakes. Sonoma County Reptile Rescue director Al Wolf pulled 22 adult rattlesnakes and 59 babies from the house's...

Nov 1, 2021

Two extremely venomous snakes found mating in home drainpipe, yanked out by tails

Some of the world's deadliest snakes were caught in the act of mating in a home's drainpipe and had to be yanked out by their tails, according to news reports. Two Eastern brown snakes (Pseudonaja textilis), which are native to Australia and New Guinea, had crawled into a drainpipe at...