Reptiles, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 1, 2015

Turtle Facts

Turtles are reptiles with hard shells that protect them from predators. They are among the oldest and most primitive groups of reptiles, having evolved millions of years ago. Turtles live all over the world in almost every type of climate. According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), the turtle...

Oct 21, 2015

New Species of Giant Tortoise Found in the Galápagos

Paging Charles Darwin: The island of Santa Cruz within the Galápagos has not one but two distinct species of giant tortoise, a new genetic study finds. For years, researchers thought that the giant tortoises living on the western and eastern sides of Santa Cruz belonged to the same species. But...

Nov 6, 2015

8 Baby Turtles and Tortoises: Cute, and Critically Endangered (Photos)

Avi Shuter is a wild-animal keeper at the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Bronx Zoo Herpetology Department. Julie Larsen Maher is staff photographer for WCS. In addition to documenting WCS field work, Maher photographs the animals at WCS's five New York-based wildlife parks: the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, New York...

Dec 28, 2015

Turtles' Wayward Travels May Mean BP Oil Spill's Impact Was Global

The far-flung journeys of juvenile sea turtles could mean that the impact of 2010's Deepwater Horizon oil spill was global. More than 300,000 sea turtles were likely in the region of the Gulf of Mexico affected by the oil spill, according to a new computer simulation. About three-quarters of these...

Feb 25, 2016

Funeral Feast? Butchered Turtles in Ancient Grave Hint at Ritual

In an ancient settlement on the banks of the Tigris River in Turkey, archaeologists have made a strange discovery: 17 butchered soft-shelled turtles in the grave of a woman and child. These river turtles were not a typical Mesopotamian menu offering 2,500 years ago, but the researchers think that, in...

Jul 7, 2016

Baby Turtles Mysteriously Dying on Australian Island

There may be such a thing as too many turtles, according to scientists investigating why so few turtle eggs were hatching on Raine Island, located on the tip of Australiaꞌs Great Barrier Reef. For more than 1,000 years, green sea turtles have nested on Raine Island, where they dig pits...

Jul 21, 2016

Facts About Sea Turtles

Sea turtles, also called marine turtles, look like regular turtles, but have flippers instead of legs. They have been on Earth for more than 100 million years, according to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF). This makes them one of the oldest animal families on the planet. SizeThere are seven species...

Nov 8, 2016

Photos: Ancient Sea Turtle Discovered Along Angolan Coast

Ancient links (Image credit: Timothy Myers)About 64 million years ago, a sea turtle with a triangular-shaped head swam along the arid coastline of what is now Angola. The creature likely crunched on hard-shelled animals, such as crabs and lobsters, with its extra-long palate — the roof of its mouth. The...

Mar 6, 2017

Sea Turtle Named Bank Had 915 Coins Removed from Stomach

Editor's Note:After undergoing surgery to remove 915 coins from her stomach, Bank the sea turtle died from blood poisoning on March 21. Read the full story. A sea turtle in Thailand had to undergo an operation to remove 915 coins from its stomach, after it swallowed the loose change visitors...

Mar 22, 2017

Sea Turtle 'Bank' Dies After 915 Coins Removed from Stomach

After undergoing surgery two weeks ago to remove 915 coins from her stomach, a sea turtle nicknamed Bank died due to complications, according to news reports. In Thailand, tourists throw coins at turtles due to a superstition that the activity brings longevity and good fortune. Bank swallowed the loose change...

Mar 27, 2017

Reel Threat: How Recreational Fishing Endangers Freshwater Turtles

Swallowed fishhooks are a deadly threat to freshwater turtles, and until now, this danger was largely unexplored. A new study, however, finds that in some species, the likelihood of a turtle dying from a swallowed fishhook is as high as 11 percent, and that the frequency of turtle deaths from...

May 16, 2017

Turtle Triumph: Nine New Cambodian Royal Turtles Hatch

Cambodia's national reptile is on the brink of extinction, but there may be new hope for the reptiles after nine Cambodian Royal Turtle babies were successfully hatched, conservationists recently announced. The Royal Turtle, also known as the southern river terrapin (Batagur affinis), is one of the world's most endangered freshwater...

Jun 21, 2017

Watch: The Mysterious Graveyard Where Turtles Go to Die

A new documentary reveals some of the most awe-inspiring and mysterious parts of the Pacific Ocean. Big Pacific, which airs tonight (June 21) at 8 p.m. ET on PBS, will show viewers some of the wonders found beneath the waves of the biggest ocean on Earth. One of them is...

Jun 29, 2017

Why Scientists Are Growing Herpes-Ridden Turtle Skin in the Lab

Dr. Frankenstein, eat your heart out: Scientists have grown the pebbly green skin of sea turtles in the lab for the first time ever. In fact, it's the first time anyone has ever grown reptile skin in a laboratory, period. The reason? Researchers are trying to understand the behavior of...

Jul 25, 2017

For Some Turtles, Science Is a Real Turn-On

When scientists collect or observe animals in the wild, it sometimes can be extremely challenging to identify their sex. But a group of researchers recently found an innovative and relatively simple way to determine the sex of turtles in the field, coaxing reluctant males into, um, revealing themselves, through the...