1,395 results
- Animals
A mountain lizard in Peru broke the reptilian altitude record
Liolaemus tacnae was photographed 5,400 meters above sea level in the Andes, breaking the highest elevation record for a reptile by about 100 meters.
- Paleontology
This big-headed pterosaur may have preferred walking over flying
The most intact fossil of a tapejarid pterosaur ever found yields new insight into how the ancient reptile lived.
- Animals
Tree-climbing carnivores called fishers are back in Washington’s forests
Thanks to a 14-year reintroduction effort, fishers, or “tree wolverines,” are once again climbing and hunting in Washington’s forests after fur trapping and habitat loss wiped them out.
- Animals
How some lizards breathe underwater
Researchers have figured out how some anole lizards can stay underwater for as long as 18 minutes.
- Animals
An agile gecko found in India named after the legendary Jackie Chan
A hard-to-catch gecko species is named after martial artist Jackie Chan. Skin patterns, like one resembling a galaxy, inspire other newfound geckos’ names.
- Paleontology
‘Monkeydactyl’ may be the oldest known creature with opposable thumbs
A newly discovered pterosaur that lived during the Jurassic Period could have used its flexible digits to climb trees like a monkey.
- Paleontology
An ancient creature thought to be a teeny dinosaur turns out to be a lizard
CT scans of hummingbird-sized specimens trapped in amber reveal that the 99-million-year-old fossils have a number of lizardlike features.
- Life
Monitor lizards’ huge burrow systems can shelter hundreds of small animals
Two species of Australian monitor lizards dig nests four meters deep. Now scientists reveal that the burrows are home to far more than their creators.
- Animals
How frigid lizards falling from trees revealed the reptiles’ growing cold tolerance
Some Florida lizards’ ability to handle temperatures down to 5.5° C may provide clues to how they might deal with the extremes of climate change.
- Animals
Octopus sleep includes a frenzied, colorful, ‘active’ stage
Four wild cephalopods snoozing in a lab had long stretches of quiet napping followed by brief bursts of REM-like sleep.
- Genetics
Lizard-like tuatara carry two distinct mitochondrial genomes
Having two mitochondrial genetic instruction books, a first for vertebrates, may help explain tuatara’s unique ability to tolerate cold temperatures.
- Science & Society
6 surprising records science set in 2021
Ancient mammoth DNA and a new source of gravitational waves set new records this year.
