Reptiles

Reptiles

Credit: Rizky Ade Jonathan/Getty Images

This river contains around 500 deadly saltwater crocodiles. It’s just been approved for the rowing and canoeing events at the Brisbane Olympics

The International Olympic Committee has endorsed the Fitzroy River course for the 2032 Olympics.
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A fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper) in a remote off-grid eco-lodge in Costa Rica.

Python vs viper: What's the difference between these two heavyweight snake families?

They might both command a great deal of attention (and fear), but pythons and vipers have entirely different bodies, hunting methods and ways of raising their young
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"He was dragged down to the riverbed and was rapidly running out of air…" 8 animals that deliberately their prey underwater to drown them

Drowning as a method of killing prey isn't the most popular in the animal kingdom - but it does happen...
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Craig Cordier/Getty Images

"Bites result in grotesque swellings - medical amputations of digits and limbs are not uncommon…" 10 deadliest snakes in Africa

The long-and-short and thick-and-thin of Africa’s deadliest snakes.
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Elephant seal couple. Credit: Foto4440/Getty Images

"She may eat parts of her own arms to essentially accelerate her own demise." 8 females with the worst, most horrible, lives ever

In the animal kingdom, it's often females that wield the power - but that doesn't mean they have it easy.
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Spider-tailed horned viper

This snake's "outrageous" tail looks exactly like a spider. Scientists just looked inside it and found something odd

Researchers examined the bone structure of the spider-tailed horn viper that lures dinner with an extraordinary flick of its tail.
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Venomous inland taipan Australia

It contains some of the world’s deadliest animals, from snakes to crocodiles – so why does Australia have so much dangerous wildlife?

Is the wildlife really more deadly 'down under'? Helen Pilcher takes a look at why Australia has so many dangerous animals
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Green anaconda

"On the first occasion, it only failed to drag the female researcher into the water because her trousers tore at the knee"

Despite its fame and horror film notoriety, very little is known about the anaconda. One man who has got to grips – quite literally – with this giant serpent is Jésus A Rivas... Here he explains what you need to know about this fearsome predator
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Dugite, Perth Hills, Western Australia. Highly venomous snake in the brown snake family.

"They hide in the nooks and crannies of our beds, then come out at night to slurp up our blood like a smoothie…" 8 animals that could be in your bed

We like to think that we choose who we share our bedrooms with, yet sometimes, mother nature has other ideas.
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most dangerous snakes in australia

"It is estimated that just one bite contains enough venom to kill at least 100 humans." 4 most dangerous, deadliest snakes in Australia

Learn about the potent venom of these dangerous reptiles, as well as habitats, and the risks they pose to humans.
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A newt lies flat on a wet surface

"Its ribs stretch the skin to the point that they burst right through it, producing a row of barbs that inject poison into any predator"

The Spanish ribbed newt has one of the most spectacular defence mechanisms out there. Find out how it fights back...
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Scenic view of Independence Monument

“The victim's muscles go rigid, abdomen, chest and back cramp, then cardiovascular collapse can follow.” 8 most dangerous, deadliest animals in Colorado

Sprawling for a whopping 3.5 million acres of wilderness, the state of Colorado includes habitats ranging from sprawling forests to semi-arid shrublands, and alpine tundra to lowland plains.
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It can count to six, recognise faces, reproduce without a male, kill prey much larger than itself – and has a nasty, venomous bite

From Komodo dragons to Nile monitors, here's everything you need to know about the monitor lizard genus
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"Even amongst their fellow apex predators, they are still top of the food chain…" 7 animals so formidable they have virtually no predators

While most animals that have no predators are what we call ‘apex predators’, meaning they are right at the top of the food chain, this is not always the case.
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Green mamba from São Tomé Island

‘Ghost’ green mamba rediscovered after 90 years

Snake experts try to solve a 150-year-old mystery thanks to surprise discovery.
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Smooth snake (Coronella austriaca)

We thought Britain only had one venomous snake. These scientists think they've found another

Britain’s rarest reptile, the smooth snake, to be reclassified as a potentially venomous species – but it represents absolutely no threat to humans, say researchers.
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They form a terrifying, deadly ‘fence’ to catch and kill their prey

Science writer Stuart Blackman analyses hunting strategies of the slithery kind. 
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It's a tiny island, just 3 football pitches in size, filled with thousands of deadly venomous cobras and just 100 humans… This is what happens…

This tiny island in Uganda is home to deadly forest cobras, and local fisherman have strange beliefs to keep them friendly
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It bites its own tail to transform into a brutal spiked wheel – one of nature’s strangest defences

Coiled in self-defence, this armoured creature turns its body into a formidable fortress to evade predators
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A reticulated python on dry leaves on the ground.

At 10m long this snake is not only the world's longest and heaviest, but one of the deadliest too, capable of swallowing a human whole

A familiar snake species to zoo visitors, the reticulated python is a very impressive reptile and on record as the world’s longest snake.
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Chris Austin in New Guinea

Night-hunting snake discovered in New Guinea. It’s almost a metre long and waits for prey at the bottom of trees

The groundsnake, named Slash’s groundsnake, was deemed new to science through genetic analysis
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It might look like a harmless twig, but it’s anything but… "Its venom affects blood clotting and can cause severe bleeding. There is no antivenom."

Giulia De Chirico/ Getty Images

The strange island where trees bleed, deadly cucumber trees grow and nature has evolved in ways found nowhere else on Earth

Found at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, Socotra island has the weirdest species
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Bobcat attacks rattlesnake in Florida

Remote camera catches bobcat attacking biggest rattlesnake species on Earth

Camera-trap images show the wild cat biting and clawing a large eastern diamondback rattlesnake in Florida.
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