Reptiles, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 27, 2013

Crikey! Crocodiles and Alligators Snack on Fruit

Crocodiles and alligators are infamous carnivores, but it turns out they do not live on meat alone — scientists have unexpectedly discovered that these predators occasionally snack on fruit as well. These surprising findings suggest crocodilians — which include alligators, crocodiles and their close relatives — might, via seeds they...

Sep 3, 2013

Alligator Hunters Nab Mississippi's Heaviest Gator

Twice over Labor Day weekend, hunters in Mississippi broke the state record for the heaviest alligator ever caught, wildlife officials said. The first male alligator was brought in shortly after midnight on Sept. 1 in a canal north of Redwood, Miss. It weighed 723.5 lbs. (328 kilograms), beating the previous...

Nov 11, 2013

Are Crocodiles Secret Fruit-Lovers? (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Seed dispersal by animals is important for plants to help them occupy new areas of land. Usually bugs, birds, or intrepid kittens do that job. Now we can add crocodiles...

Dec 12, 2013

Alligators and Crocodiles Use Tools to Hunt, in a First

It's official: Reptiles can use tools to help them hunt. New research shows that alligators and crocodiles can use small sticks to attract birds looking for nesting materials. If the birds get too close, they become a meal. The behavior has so far been observed among American alligators in Louisiana,...

Jan 15, 2014

Alligators Stalk, Crush & Swallow Prey on Candid Camera

Chomp, chomp. An inconspicuous — albeit with a camera on its back — alligator slithers through a lake stalking and capturing nearby prey, then surfaces to crush and swallow it. This gator is one of a group of camera-toting American alligators that are revealing some surprising insights about their foraging...

Feb 11, 2014

Crikey! Crocodiles Can Climb Trees

Forget leapin' lizards. In Australia, Africa and North America, it's climbin' crocodiles you have to worry about. New research finds that — yikes — crocodiles can climb trees, even reaching the uppermost branches. Four species found on three continents showed this behavior, which may help the reptiles regulate their body...

Mar 4, 2014

Reptile Death Match: Snake Devours Crocodile (Video)

A python was caught on camera devouring a crocodile after an epic battle on the shores of an Australian lake. Amazing footage of the incident shows the snake constricting its prey and slowly stretching its mouth over the crocodile's scaly body during the course of five hours. The reptile death...

Mar 19, 2014

A Crocodile Hunt, Redefined, in Southeastern Cuba (Op-Ed)

Natalia Rossi is a herpetologist with the Latin America and Caribbean Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society and a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University. This article is the second in a series of blogs celebrating the contributions of women to the practice of conservation. Rossi contributed this article to Live...

Apr 3, 2014

Photos: A Frozen Croc Goes to the Hospital

Dino Analog (Image credit: Ohio University)When paleontologists dig up dinosaurs, all they find are bones. As crocodiles are living cousins of dinosaurs, the organs and tiny structures inside their heads might resemble elusive soft tissue that once filled the skulls of dinosaurs. Rare Croc CT (Image credit: Ohio University)A group...

Apr 3, 2014

X-Rays Reveal Rare Croc's Insides

For the past 15 years, anatomist Larry Witmer has been going through the back door of the O'Bleness Hospital in Athens, Ohio, pushing coolers stuffed with dead animals into the CT scanning room. He has brought in ostriches, slain rhinoceroses and rare kiwis. Last week, Witmer arrived with an 8.5-foot-long...

Jun 2, 2014

900-Lb. Ancient Croc Tore Through Turtles, Battled Monster Snakes

It was 16 feet (4.8 meters) long and tipped the scales at 900 lbs. (408 kilograms). With a blunt snout and powerful bite, it ate turtles and battled monster snakes. Now this extinct dyrosaur, a type of crocodilian, which roamed an ancient rainforest a few million years after the dinosaurs...

Jul 23, 2014

Chasing Alligators, Dodging Parrots: A Zookeeper's Life (Op-Ed)

Christopher Scoufaras is a zookeeper at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)'s Queens Zoo. He contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Growing up, I regularly visited the WCS's Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium and knew from a young age that I was interested in working...

Oct 22, 2014

Facts about alligators

Alligators are large reptiles and members of the order Crocodylia. The two existing species of alligators and the many worldwide species of crocodiles are closely related, and people often confuse one with the other. An alligator is distinguished by its wide, rounded snout and black color. When an alligator rests...

Jan 21, 2015

Ancient Knife-Toothed Reptile Is Crocodile Cousin

The fossil of a prehistoric 9-foot-long (2.7 meters) carnivorous reptile that had sharp, serrated teeth is helping researchers fill out the early branches of the reptile family tree, according to a new study. It's unclear where the reptile, Nundasuchus songeaensis, falls on the evolutionary tree, said Sterling Nesbitt, an assistant...

Feb 24, 2015

Photos: Ancient Crocodile Relatives Roamed the Amazon

The fossilized remains of seven species of crocodile relatives were found along the banks of the Amazon River in Peru. These prehistoric reptiles lived in South America at a time when the Amazon River basin contained swamps, rivers and lakes, as well as a multitude of clams. But when tectonic...