The cutest of our angry creatures, this great field shot of a Snapping Turtle takes the spotlight our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user anuraanman ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! […]

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Crotalus adamanteus I travel to Florida with my family about every other year and only get to take one day to hunt snakes on each visit, so I am by no means an expert on the finer aspects of Florida snake hunting. Over the years I have been able to locate some […]

Fire Salamander – Gallery Photo by firereptiles To help prevent a deadly fungus from killing native salamanders, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is publishing an interim rule tomorrow to list 201 salamander species as injurious wildlife and barring their importation into the United States and interstate trade of those already in the country. The […]

By Herp News The Tsaratanana Massif –the highest mountain on Madagascar and one of the island’s most remote regions– is home to several indigenous species. Yet, the majority of these species remain unknown to science due to the fact that this woodland area is difficult to reach. Thanks to a European expedition to this area, […]

This hatching Leopard Gecko is cute as a button in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user radar357 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more here: King Snake […]

A robust build and a length of 16-17 inches (including the long tail) is a typical size for an adult giant ameiva. For well over a half century Ameivas, the large, economy size of the whiptail/racerunner clan if you prefer, have been prominent in the hobbyist reptile trade. Of the 3 dozen or so species […]

By Herp News It is difficult to protect endangered species without understanding how many individuals exist or where they’re located. However, learning this can be a daunting task when the species in question are rare and elusive carnivores — and all the more so when they live in areas that make tracking them difficult. The […]

This is a gorgeous corn snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user dallashawks ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! No offense USPS! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more here: King Snake […]

By Herp News An unusual mountain lion shot in Idaho has spurred questions about its abnormalities. On December 30th a hunter killed a young male mountain lion after it was seen attacking a dog on a property in Weston, Idaho near the Utah border. When the hunter reported the kill to authorities, it became apparent […]

By Herp News Massive natural-gas leak forces California to declare a state of emergency [ABC] Since it was first reported in October 2015, a well owned by Southern California Gas Co., has been gushing up to 1,200 tons of methane a day, along with other gases. Experts say it will be months still before workers […]

By Herp News [dropcap]I[/dropcap]n late November, three South African judges lifted a ban on the domestic sale of rhinoceros horn in the African country, sparking controversy both at home and abroad. South Africa is at the dead center of a global rhinoceros-poaching crisis. Rhino horns are fed into a black-market pipeline leading to Vietnam and […]

By Herp News Two months ago, on November 2, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park made the sad announcement that Nola, a 41-year old northern white rhino — one of only four left in the world — had passed away. “Nola, who lived here since 1989, was under veterinary care for a bacterial infection, as […]

Making our return to Rattlesnake Friday with a bang with this stunning Tuxtlan jumping pitviper (Atropoides olmec) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user PeteSnakeCharmer! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! […]

By Herp News Painted dogs, also known as African wild dogs, are among Africa’s most endangered species. Habitat fragmentation and conflict with livestock and farmers are partly to blame — human encroachment across the dogs’ range has shown no signs of stopping. However, every dog has its day—and it seems Greg Rasmussen is the one […]

Back in the field as this lovely Fire Salamander takes the spotlight in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user NYgaboon ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more […]

The Concho water snake is a protected species.Although the two occur in different and non-contiguous drainages, the Concho water snake, (formerly Nerodia harteri paucimaculata, now Nerodia paucimaculata) is of very similar appearance to the Brazos water snake. N. harteri. As he had with the latter, Kenny had researched the locales and the probabilities of our […]

By Herp News Radiocarbon dating of atomic bomb fallout found in sea turtle shells can be used to reliably estimate the ages, growth rates and reproductive maturity of sea turtle populations in the wild, according researchers. The newly tested technique provides scientists with a more accurate means of estimating turtle growth and maturity and may […]

By Herp News A team of researchers has described 60 new species of dragonflies and damselflies from various parts of Africa, according to a recent study published in the journal Odonatologica. This is the most number of dragonfly species to be described at once in 130 years, researchers say. And with this discovery, the total […]

What a wonderful field find! This in situ Indigo takes the spotlight in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ACO3124 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Have a safe New Years Eve! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them […]

By Herp News A new review provides intriguing insights on parthenogenesis, or virgin birth, in snakes. Go to Source …read more Read more here: herpetofauna.com No products found. Amazon Auto Links

By Herp News First came the horn From knee joints to human organs, and from prosthetics for pets to guns, it seems that the limits of 3D printing are bound only by imagination. Taking 3D printing to the next step are the founders of a start-up company, Pembient, who want to print synthetic rhino horns. The […]

The spring peeper’s species name, “crucifer,” is derived from the dorsal X (the crucifix). In many areas spring peepers, Pseudacris crucifer ssp., a common chorus frog that ranges from eastern Texas to eastern Manitoba then eastward to Newfoundland to northern Florida is actually a spring breeder, but in the deep southeast it is a late […]

By Herp News Eating increases the amount of damaging reactive molecules in the body, potentially shaping and constraining life history evolution across animal groups, new research on snakes shows. Go to Source …read more Read more here: herpetofauna.com No products found. Amazon Auto Links

By Herp News On Sunday, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo released 190 birds into the wild outside the Presidential Palace in Bogor, a suburb of Jakarta. “We have to protect the ecosystem,” the Indonesian president wrote on Twitter over the weekend. He did it in the name of preserving nature in urban areas, but some conservationists responded with one […]

By Herp News Thailand officials have arrested two people in connection with the sale of critically endangered Burmese star tortoises on Facebook, according to an announcement by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The officials were first tipped off about the Facebook ads in October 2015. They began monitoring the profile of the person offering to […]

Let’s kick off the day with this gorgeous Furcifer pardalis Ambilobe in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BIONCENTER! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Have a safe New Years Eve! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! […]

By Herp News In 1996, researchers discovered a deadly cancer in Australia’s Tasmanian Devils. The transmissible cancer jumps from one Tasmanian Devil to another, and is often fatal to the animals. Since its discovery, the contagious cancer has wiped out over 90 percent of Tasmanian Devils in some areas. Now, researchers have discovered a second […]

Much like the adult Alligator in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user CDieter , take no prisoners today! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Have a safe New Years Eve! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read […]

By Herp News Some reptiles such as crocodilians and some turtles are known to display temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), where the ambient temperature of the developing eggs determines the individual’s sex. An international joint research team has determined that the thermosensor protein TRPV4 is associated with TSD in the American alligator. Go to Source …read […]

By Herp News Tortoise and turtle fossils, the first from the Miocene epoch found in Bolivia, suggest the Altiplano, near Quebrada Honda, was likely less than a kilometer above sea level 13 million years ago. Fossils of leaves and other animals support the suggestion. Go to Source …read more Read more here: herpetofauna.com No products […]

By Herp News In the Indian Himalayas, threatened Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) are frequently drawn to energy-rich human food sources such as apple orchards and other crops. This resource-driven movement frequently brings bears and humans into close contact, increasing potential risks for either side that can end in retaliatory killings of bears by local […]

By Herp News While the top environmental stories of the year include more than a few bummers, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the planet in 2015. Here we take a look at some of the more positive developments, from the Paris Agreement to the Yellowstone of the Amazon and the “mystery whale” that […]

We hope this Timor Python in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user carlovandun! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Have a safe New Years Eve! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more here: King […]

By Herp News Douglas McCauley began his career as a fisherman but later transitioned to marine science. He now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Sloan Research Fellow in the Ocean Sciences. McCauley studies how marine ecosystems function and what management practices best support ocean health. Earlier this […]

A hatchling loggerhead musk turtle. Carl called across the river “Remember, they look like acorns.” What, I wondered was he going on about now? Then it dawned on me. We were only a few minutes from docking and Carl was likening the hatchling loggerhead musk turtles, Sternotherus m. minor, for which we were then searching […]

By Herp News [dropcap]R[/dropcap]eef fish may take longer to recover from overfishing than previously thought. While smaller fish with short life spans tend to rebound quickly in protected reefs, larger, slow growing fish may need more than 100 years of strong protection to fully recover, a new study concludes. The study was published online this […]

By Herp News The Komodo dragon–that giant monitor lizard inhabiting a few islands in Eastern Indonesia–is an exception. Biologically-speaking, of course, it is the world’s largest lizard, and a last survivor of monster lizards (bigger even than the Komodo) that once roamed a good portion of both Indonesia and Australia. But the Komodo dragon (Varanus […]

By Herp News As 2015 comes to a close, Mongabay is looking back at the year that was. This year saw President Obama reject the Keystone pipeline as historic droughts and a vicious wildfire season wracked the western US and Canada. The world committed to climate action in Paris as Southeast Asia was choking on […]

By Herp News While the threat of extinction looms closer than ever for many species, 2015 was not all gloom. Scientists discovered thousands of new species this year, some seen and classified for the first time and completely novel to science. This includes 74 species of beetles that were discovered on a single Hawaiian volcano. Others, like the […]

We love this shot of a Scorpion Mud Turtle found in the field in the Yucatan Pennisula in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cbreps! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! […]