Reptiles
grrlscientist | August 12, 2007tags: illegal animal trade, smuggling, reptiles, airplane
Like, who would have thought??
I ran across a story today that is absolutely .. er .. astonishing. A 22-year-old um, er, primate from Saudi Arabia was caught at an airport smuggling reptiles out of Egypt in his carry-on luggage .. and when caught, he claimed the luckless animals were intended for "scientific research".
This neanderthal was discovered carrying hundreds of snakes, chameleons and baby crocodiles in his carry-on luggage when he attempted to board a Saudi-bound flight at an Egyptian airport. The smuggler was caught after…
grrlscientist | June 21, 2007tags: We, two-headed snake, reptile, World Aquarium
Leonard Sonnenschein, president of the World Aquarium in St. Louis, holds We, a two-headed albino rat snake. The snake came to the aquarium's attention when its previous owner distributed a circular offering it for sale days after its birth. The aquarium paid $15,000, knowing full well that most two-headed snakes don't live more than a few months.
[larger]
A rare two-headed albino rat snake, appropriately named "We," died this past weekend. The 8-year-old rat snake, the main attraction at the World Aquarium located inside the downtown…
grrlscientist | June 19, 2007tags: sea turtle, Olive-Ridley hatchling, Image of the Day
An Olive Ridley hatchling struggles out of its egg on a French Guianan beach. Egg collection and snaring in fishing nets have brought the turtle's population down by 95% in 40 years. Turtle protection has been under discussion at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species meeting.
Image: Roger Leguen, WWF [larger]
grrlscientist | June 8, 2007tags: king penguin, Image of the Day
A worker from Rome's Biopark zoo holds a Testudo Kleinmanni hatchling, an endangered species also known as the Egyptian tortoise, on 22 May 2007 at the Naples airport.
Image: Tony Gentile (Reuters) [larger]
grrlscientist | June 6, 2007tags: Komodo Dragons, Indonesia, streaming video
This streaming video shows the "small miracles" that are hatching out at the Denver Zoo: the rare and difficult-to-breed Komodo Dragons. Komodo dragons are large lizards native to several small islands in Indonesia [2:25].
grrlscientist | May 28, 2007tags: limbless lizard, reptiles, snakes, India
A new species of limbless lizard was discovered in a forested region about 1,000 km southeast of New Delhi, India. The 18-cm (7-inch) lizard resembles a small snake.
Image: Sushil Kumar Dutta.
A new species of limbless lizard was discovered in eastern India, an Indian zoologist revealed today. The newly found 18-centimetre-long lizard (pictured above) resembles a small, scaly snake and it prefers to live in a cool retreat with soft soil.
"The lizard is new to science and is an important discovery. It is not found anywhere else in the world…
grrlscientist | May 24, 2007tags: snake, alligator, reptiles
A Burmese python swallows an alligator and then bursts open.
Image: BBC News.
An unusual struggle between a 6 foot (1.8 meter) alligator and a 13 foot (3.9 meter) python killed two of the deadliest predators in Florida's swamps. The alligator is native to the Florida swamps, while the python is native to Burma, and was probably was dumped into the swamp by its neglectful owner. Apparently, the Burmese python attempted to swallow the alligator whole but then its belly exploded. It is possible that the alligator might have clawed the python's stomach until it…
grrlscientist | May 24, 2007tags: snakes, smuggling, airplane
Did you hear about the guy who was trying to carry a bag containing 700 snakes in it onto a plane in Cairo? His stash of snakes included two deadly cobras -- the stuff of a good terror spoof. He was apparently trying to smuggle these snakes on board with him so he could sell them in Saudi Arabia, where his flight was headed.
The officers were stunned when a passenger, identified as Yahia Rahim Tulba, told them his carryon bag contained live snakes after he was asked to open it.
Tulba opened his bag to show the snakes to the police and asked the officers,…
grrlscientist | May 16, 2007tags: turtle, Cantor's giant softshell turtle, Pelochelys cantorii, endangered species, herpetology, reptiles
This photo released by Conservation International, shows two rare Cantor's giant
softshell turtles, Pelochelys cantorii, thought to be on the brink of extinction.
Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund announced today, 16 May 2007,
that scientists discovered the rare species in Cambodia in a former stronghold of the
Khmer Rouge in March.
A rare soft-shell turtle has been found in Cambodia's Mekong River, raising hopes that the threatened species can be saved from…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2007
The Asian snake, Rhabdophis tigrinus, obtains toxins from toads it eats and uses the potent chemicals as a defense against predators, according to a new study.
Image: Old Dominion University, Alan Savitsky.
[much larger image]
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not: we have a…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2007tags: Rhabdophis tigrinus, snake, toad, toxins, evolution
The Asian snake, Rhabdophis tigrinus, obtains toxins from toads it eats and uses the potent chemicals as a defense against predators, according to a new study.
The toxin-containing glands are clearly visible on this juvenile snake as a large ridge on the back of the neck. The snake is native to the toad-rich island of Ishima, Japan.
Contrary to popular belief, not all poisonous snakes actually manufacture their poisons. In fact, according to a newly published study, some snakes obtain their poisons from their diet and store them in…
grrlscientist | May 10, 2007
Anolis lizards, Anolis allisoni, from Cuba. A study in the journal Nature is shedding new light on how size differences between males (right) and females (left) may affect the lizard's ability to adapt to new environments.
Image: BBC News.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not…
grrlscientist | April 30, 2007
Eleven species of giant tortoise are found throughout the Galapagos Islands.
The (Lonesome George) Pinta tortoise is one of the smaller species.
Image: BBC News.
Do you remember "Lonesome George"; the male giant Galapagos tortoise from the island of Pinta? Well, it appears that he is not so lonesome afterall, since researchers discovered a first-generation hybrid between a Pinta tortoise and a tortoise from Isabela isle. This hybrid, which shares half of its genes with George, was discovered on Isabela.
Because of this hybrid's parentage, it is possible that a more thorough sampling of…
grrlscientist | March 27, 2007
Scientists have uncovered a fossil lizard in the Liaoning Province of north-eastern China, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports. Its most striking feature is a wing-like membrane, supported by the animal's elongated ribs, that the lizard would have used for gliding.
Photographer: Z Chuang/X. Lida.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by…
grrlscientist | March 21, 2007
California mountain kingsnake, Lampropeltis zonata. June 2006, Southeast Skamania County, WA. This snake is from a small, disjunct population living on the Washington side of the Columbia River gorge near the river. The nearest conspecifics live in Southwest Oregon. This individual was caught, photographed, and released.
Image: Conrad Frost, Fisheries Biologist, USGS.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and…
grrlscientist | March 14, 2007
A handful of baby crocodiles.
Image: source.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not: we have a choice to either preserve these species or to destroy them in search of short-term monetary gains. But if we decide to destroy these other life forms, the least we can do is to know…
grrlscientist | February 14, 2007
Madagascar blind snake, Xenotyphlops mocquardi.
A rare blind snake has been rediscovered in Madagascar a century after its last sighting. The snake, which looks like a long, skinny pink worm, was only known from two other specimens, both discovered in 1905.
"They're really rare because they're subterranean," said blind-snake expert Van Wallach of Harvard University who described the new specimen. "You can't just go out anytime you want and collect these things. You can dig forever and never find them."
Scientists captured the snake, called Xenotyphlops mocquardi, alive in 2005 during an…
grrlscientist | February 9, 2007
This Southern Copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix,
was basking in the late-afternoon sun on an unpaved road in the Big Thicket in Texas, in early April 2004.
Image: Biosparite.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not: we have a choice to either preserve these species or to destroy…
grrlscientist | January 25, 2007Do humans respect viagra enough? Methinks, not: There is an iguana who now is in danger of having his penis amputated after innocently consuming viagra. Yeow! It's a good thing that iguanas have hemipenes instead of one penis.
Mozart, an iguana with an erection that has lasted for over a week, will have his penis amputated in the next couple of days.
Mozart, sitting on the shoulders of his keeper as camera crews focused on his red, swollen erection, seemed unperturbed by the news.
Cited story.
.
tags: viagra, erection,iguana
grrlscientist | January 23, 2007
The lava lizard, hitching a ride on the marine iguana was on Isabela Island in the Galapagos.
The photographer says, "I think the iguana is saying 'scratch a little to the right, little more, YES! Perfect.' "
Image: Annie.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not: we have a choice…