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Reptiles News Stories
Current Reptiles News Events, Discoveries and Articles

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Ancient giant turtle fossil revealed
Picture a turtle the size of a Smart car, with a shell large enough to double as a kiddie pool. Paleontologists from North Carolina State University have found just such a specimen - the fossilized remains of a 60-million-year-old South American giant that lived in what is now Colombia. (2012-05-18)

Squid and zebrafish cells inspire camouflaging smart materials
Researchers from the University of Bristol have created artificial muscles that can be transformed at the flick of a switch to mimic the remarkable camouflaging abilities of organisms such as squid and zebrafish. (2012-05-02)

24 new species of lizards discovered on Caribbean islands are close to extinction
In a single new scientific publication, 24 new species of lizards known as skinks, all from islands in the Caribbean, have been discovered and scientifically named. (2012-04-30)

Did bone ease acid for early land crawlers?
Here's an anatomical packing list for making that historic trip from water to land circa 370 million years ago: Lungs? Check. Legs? Check. (2012-04-25)

Sexual reproduction brings long-term benefits, study shows
Courtship rituals can be all-consuming, demanding time and effort - but now scientists have discovered why it might be worth it. (2012-04-10)

Scientists discover new threat to birds posed by invasive pythons
Smithsonian scientists and their colleagues have uncovered a new threat posed by invasive Burmese pythons in Florida and the Everglades: The snakes are not only eating the area's birds, but also the birds' eggs straight from the nest. (2012-04-06)

Incisive research links teeth with diet
You are what you eat is truism that has been given new impetus by 'cutting edge' research led by the University of Leicester that reveals your teeth are literally shaped by your food. (2012-04-04)

Specialization for underwater hearing by the tympanic middle ear of the turtle
A group of biologists from Denmark and the US led by Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard, University of Southern Denmark, and Catherine Carr, University of Maryland, have shown that the turtle ear is specialized for underwater hearing. (2012-03-22)

Why getting healthy can seem worse than getting sick
A new article in The Quarterly Review of Biology helps explain why the immune system often makes us worse while trying to make us well. (2012-03-21)

Student Research: Tracking Lake Erie Water Snake in Fight Against Invasive Fish
Thanks to research by a University of Cincinnati undergraduate student and two team members, there's a new tool that's now been tested and found to work in continuously recording the habits of snakes. (2012-03-20)