Reptiles, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 10, 2023

'They mated like mad': Low-flying helicopter sparks massive crocodile orgy in Australia

A large-scale saltwater crocodile mating frenzy was recently triggered by an unlikely suspect in Australia — a low-flying Chinook helicopter. Ranchers from the Koorana Crocodile Farm in Queensland, which is home to over 3,000 crocodiles, said their scaly residents became aroused after the flyby and mated like mad. John Lever,...

Oct 17, 2023

Watch rare footage of huge crocodile eating baby hippo with umbilical cord still attached

Rare footage has captured the moment before a huge crocodile began feasting on a newborn hippo in Kenya's Maasai Mara. The hippo appeared to still have its umbilical cord attached as the crocodile held its body in its jaws and thrashed the carcass around. Frankie Adamson, a wildlife photographer who...

Oct 18, 2023

Last-known crocodile in Europe lived in Spain 4.5 million years ago, researchers say

Paleontologists in Spain have unearthed a 4.5 million-year-old tooth that likely belonged to one of the last crocodiles in Europe. The tooth is the only crocodilian fossil excavated from a site called Baza-1 in the southern province of Granada and indicates the predator looked similar to Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus)...

Dec 12, 2023

Pinky-white leucistic alligator with blue eyes born in Florida is 1 of only 8 in the world

An exceptionally rare light-pink alligator has been born at Gatorland, a wildlife park in Orlando, Florida. The female American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) has a genetic condition known as leucism, which results from a mutation in the genes that leads to reduced pigment in feathers, hair or skin. Unlike albinism, which...

Jan 2, 2024

'Eyes coming straight for me': Huge crocodile launches itself into boat with jaws wide open in strange attack

A fisher experienced the shock of a lifetime when a large crocodile launched itself onto his boat with its jaws wide open in Australia. The incident occurred at Jane Creek — a stream northeast of Mackay in Queensland — on the morning of Dec. 31, 2023. The man was identified...

Jan 23, 2024

Alligators survive cold snap by becoming 'frozen solid' in North Carolina and Texas ponds

Alligators in North Carolina and Texas are surviving a cold snap by suspending their bodies in pond water and letting it freeze solid around them, videos show. Only their snouts and front teeth poke through the ice, allowing the alligators to breathe while they wait for the water to thaw....