Famous Reptiles

Why did the chicken cross the road? That might be the age-old question, but some of you may be wondering why the salamander crossed the road. I suspect that most everyone is familiar with salamanders. North Dakota has one native salamander, and that is the eastern tiger salamander ( Ambystoma tigrinum ). They can be found statewide. They are about 6-8 inches long, have smooth moist black or maybe a ripe olive colored skin, with pale yellowish spots or blotches. Salamanders are amphibians, not reptiles. Tiger salamanders generally inhabit their burrows in moist-damp habitats where they feed on earthworms, slugs, insects, and the like. As with other amphibians the young develop in bodies of water such as lakes, ponds, and marshes. It is around August when the young become fully developed and can spend more time out of the water. And it's around this time each year, roughly the end of August and into September, when they leave the area around wetlands in search of a place higher up on...

Recently Cheetas have been brought to India to resuscitate their population, but the same is not the case with many species, as they are on the verge of extinction or have already been extinct. Evolution on Earth is a continuous process. Just like The Earth is changing, its creatures are also changing. The process of development of new species makes the older species extinct. This is a slow-paced process, but due to human intervention over the last few centuries, the rate of extinction has increased rapidly. Lonesome George - This tortoise was a famous celebrity, who died in 2012. He was the last known individual of the special sub-species known as the  Pinta Island tortoise, which inhabited on the  Galapagos Islands. The extinction of these pinta giant tortoises was largely driven by 19th-century ships and fishermen who hunted them. Baiji or The Yangtze River Dolphin - The Yangtze River Dolphin does not exist today...

Scientists have unearthed three new species of snake living under graveyards and churches in Ecuador. The shy serpents belong to the 'cryptozoic' branch, meaning they live underground, and were spotted in remote towns in the Andes. All three are part of the 'Atractus' group, the most species-rich genus in the world, with 150 known species. Most of them inhabit remote cloud forests and rarely cross our paths, but the receding forest line has forced the small reptiles into human spaces, both dead and alive. This is bad news for the 'archaic-looking' snakes , as they are generally feared by locals who kill them on sight. But attitudes are changing, and the researchers behind the study, published in the ZooKeys journal this month, hope their identification will give the snakes a fighting chance. "The discovery of these new snakes is only the first step towards a much larger conservation project," says lead author Alejandro Arteaga. With the help of the Z...

DANA POINT, Calif. — Two lawsuits have been filed over a short-distance hike that has some of the best views in Dana Point. It comes down to public access vs. protecting species. What You Need To Know The Pacific pocket mouse is an endangered species The Headlands trail is open three days a week The city of Dana Point says it should be open seven days a week CNLM claims after revisiting the topic of public access in the area during the pandemic, "it was clear that public use was a threat to the protected species" The Pacific pocket mouse is tiny but has stirred up some big issues in at the Dana Point. It's an endangered species that's been found at the Headlands, a place Dana Point Mayor Joe Muller says has views you can't beat. As Muller walked on the trail, he pointed out toward the ocean at some places you can see typically from the Headlands. "You've got Catalina Island right here," he said. "And th...

A woman made a startling discovery in a garden in Bodmin yesterday evening. Rhianna Louise Mayes shared a picture on Facebook after she came across a blizzard snow corn snake. She said that she found the dramatic-looking creature in Carpenter Court, near Berrycoombe Road. Now she wants to reunite the snake, which she believes is someone's pet, with its owner. Her Facebook post said: "Lost and Found! "Have found a lost blizzard snow corn snake loose in Berrycombe estate. Have handed details over to RSPCA but thought I'd share on here. Rhianna is hoping to reunite the snake with its owner (Image: Rhianna Louise Mayes) "Found at 6.45pm this evening [Monday] in a garden in Carpenters Court. Do corn snakes bite? All snakes may bite under stress or if they smell food. However,  they're not venomous . When threatened, corn snakes may pull their head back displaying an 'S' shaped neck. If your snak...

Indian-American politician Nikki Haley lambasted American talk show "The View" co-host Sunny Hostin after her "racist" remark in the latest episode. Haley, who is a former United Nations Ambassador, called Hostin a "racist" as the latter told Haley that she acts like a "chameleon" and shields her Indian heritage behind a fake name. Hostin remark has sparked the debate over racism. The 53-year-old author made the controversial remark during a panel discussion about potential presidential candidates for the 2024 election. During the talk show, American political strategist Alyssa Farah Griffin said she would love to see Haley and Liz Cheney challenge Donald Trump for the White House, but Suny Hostin interjected slamming Haley as a "chameleon". She later added: "What is her real name again?" H...

Pet retailer Petco has announced the expansion of its Vital Care health and wellness program to now include birds, reptiles, fish and small pets.  The program allows for exclusive savings and rewards on nutrition, supplies and more, including products from Petco's collection of private and exclusive brands . ​​ Pet parents can enroll their bird, reptile, fish or small animal into Vital Care for $9.99 per month per pet type. Existing Vital Care members with dogs and cats can also add a bird, reptile, fish or small animal to their plan for an additional $7.99 per month per pet type. "Extending the quality care and benefits our Vital Care program offers to cover all types of family pets is yet another move that's good for pets and good for our business," said Jenny Wolski, Petco Senior Vice President of Omnichannel Customer Experience. "Vital Care has grown significantly – in both popularity and benefits – since we launched it two years ago. Pet parents c...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] DENR takes steps to protect Sailfin lizard in Philippines    Devdiscourse

Snakes may look beautiful from afar, slithering on the ground, but they are not so pretty up close. As they are poisonous, they are not adored by many. In a video that is going viral on social media, a man can be seen catching a cobra (a species of venomous elapid snake) that was perched on a scooty. Watch the video here! Such guests during rains are common... But uncommon is the method used to rescue it. Never ever try this😟 pic.twitter.com/zS4h5tDBe8 — Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) September 7, 2021 In the video posted by an IPS Officer, Susanta Nanda, a cobra snake was seen perched on a scooty. The snake was hiding in the head block of scooty, in the holes meant for rear view mirrors to be precise.  A man pulled the snake from the scooty and caught him in what appeared to be an empty water cylinder. The user did not specify the exact location of the incident, but the number plate of the scooty in the video indicates that it occurred in Telangana.    ...

An extinct reptile that lived among the dinosaurs 150 million years ago has been unearthed in the badlands of Wyoming. The tiny creature sheds light on New Zealand's Tuatara, the last living member of a group that has almost entirely been supplanted by lizards. About 6 inches long from nose to tail, the "miniature version" would fit curled up in the palm of your hand. It snacked on insects - including beetles and primitive water bugs. Named Opisthiamimus gregori , its fossilized remains were entombed in rocks from a river floodplain dating back to the Late Jurassic. An artist's depiction of the Opisthiamimus gregori. About 6 inches long from nose to tail, it would fit curled up in the palm of your hand. Its fossilized remains were entombed in rocks from a river floodplain dating back to the Late Jurassic in present-day Wyoming. SWNS/Zenger Lead author Dr. Matthew Carrano, of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C, said: "What's important about th...

SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL Kahuna, a bull elk, died in Rocky Mountain National Park, and poachers stole his skull and antlers. They have since been found. ...

By Golfweek | September 10, 2022 9:00 am ET We all know how expensive golf can be. Greens fees, apparel, and most equipment, the sport isn't the most friendly to our wallets. If you're in the market for a new driver, we're sure you're familiar with how large the price tags are. Not to fear, we've scoured our sources for some of the best drivers in the game, without breaking the bank. We've found some of the best drivers on the market at low rates to help give you all the pop you can get off the tee box. Note that many of the items on this list are sale items and may go up in price to their original price point, so act fast. If you'd like a more in-depth review of the best drivers on the market, check out David Dusek's list from earlier this year. Cobra - KING RADSPEED Driver Cobra...

Varanus Priscus (巨蜥) was a giant monitor lizard that lived in Australia during the Pleistocene era. They grew to about 24 feet in length, weighed about 4,300 pounds and were hunted to extinction about 50,000 years ago. According to the movie Varanus Priscus however, not only aren't they extinct, they're a lot bigger than scientists thought as a couple of downed WWII airmen find out in the prologue. Seventy years later the island has some new visitors, a film crew has arrived to shoot a monster movie. When their explosives wake up the sleeping giant their film gets a new star in the form of The Lizard King, and we're not talking about a resurrected Jim Morrison either. Rather than the rather obscure title, the creature's scientific name, Varanus Priscus should have been called Tropic Thunder Lizard, because they've taken that film's basic setup and replaced the drug cartels with an assortment of kaiju and other deadly critters. ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Boise Police: Serial lizard thief captured, jailed    KTVB.com

September at Hershey Gardens features a full calendar of family-friendly events. Bug-O-Rama, which has expanded this year to include small reptiles and amphibians, returns, as does an art show and sale, the annual Penn-Jersey District Rose Show and a bonsai exhibit. Following are details on all September events.  Hershey Area Art Association Show and Sale Sept. 2 – 4, 2022 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Artists from the Hershey Area Art Association will present "Falling for Art" art show and sale in the Milton & Catherine Hershey Conservatory. Included in admission. Bug-O-Rama   Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Families can experience bugs from around the world and learn about their origin and behavior at Hershey Gardens' sixth annual Bug-O-Rama. In addition to scorpions, tarantulas, millipedes and cockroaches, this year's event also features small native and exotic reptiles and amphibians, including snakes, lizards, frogs, geckos...

Two huemuls, one darted, watch researchers from a lake shore in Argentina. Credit: Jo Anne Smith-Flueck Jo Anne Smith-Flueck and her colleagues floated up to the nearly toothless huemul by boat on Lago La Plata, a clear glacial lake surrounded by pine forests and the snowy Andes in Argentina near the border of Chile, around the end of the area's winter in 2017. The mid-sized ungulate—the only native deer in the area—was one of a few dozen that spend the year near the scenic lake and surrounding mountain peaks. Smith-Flueck, the director of scientific research at the Shoonem Foundation—a nonprofit organization focused on conserving huemuls—suspected that these animals weren't living year-round among the snow-draped southern beech forests by choice. Given the harsh climate, she and her team once thought they might migrate over the mountain passes to the lower valleys in Chile during the coldest months. [embedded content] ...