Scientists who filmed the rare spider-tailed viper in the wild have unlocked the secret of its bizarre tail. By James Owen.

Some 99 million years ago, 12 unsuspecting lizards stepped or fell into sticky tree resin and couldn't tear themselves loose in the forests of what is now Myanmar. Over time that resin fossilized into amber, preserving the little lizards for scientists to study later. Now, researchers are looking to these prehistoric golden chunks to better understand how lizards have evolved.

A fungus could wipe out our nation's salamanders.

Turtles grow up without parents, which might sound lonely. But for threatened baby turtles raised in a zoo it’s an advantage: they can learn to catch crickets all by themselves. There’s a paradox, though. When they are ready to leave the nursery, there is little wilderness where they can make a home.

There are plenty of reasons you may wish you lived in California — beautiful weather, beautiful people, that 7-Eleven that sold a winning Powerball ticket. But you only need one reason not to: Be grateful, anyone who lives anywhere else. As for you Californians — well, we’re keeping you in our thoughts. For the third time in recent months, a rare, venomous yellow-bellied sea snake has washed up on the Golden State’s shores, freaking out beach-goers...

The largest ever sea-dwelling crocodile has been uncovered in Tunisia. It was longer than a great white shark and its skull was as big as a person.

There's a simple reason why Australia isn't the most lethal nation in the world.

Two striking sea snakes have been spotted drifting off the coast of Western Australia, more than 15 years after the species was declared extinct. These bright yellow short nosed sea snakes (Aipysurus apraefrontalis) vanished from their natural habitat in the Timor Sea between 1998 and 2002, only to reappear in full view of a park ranger this month. "We were blown away, these potentially extinct snakes were there in plain sight, living on one of Australia’s natural icons...

Tiny green-blooded vocalists croon among the forest vegetation on humid monsoon nights, composing a different melody every time they sing

The turtle Gruber spotted and recorded was showing off bright green and red colors that gave it a neon glow. It was biofluorescing -- reflecting blue light and flashing it back out as another color. (Not to be confused with the bioluminescence some animals exhibit, where they essentially give off their own light from within or from things such as bacteria resting on them.)

Scientists diving recently near the Solomon Islands made an illuminating discovery: The first biofluorescent reptile ever recorded.

In the ongoing history of evolutionary change, there are few transformations as celebrated as the time when fossil humans gave up a life in the trees for one walking upright on the ground. It’s so special to us that, rightly or wrongly, the ability to strut about on two pillar-like legs has often been taken as the de facto evidence for membership in the hominin family. We often forget that other creatures pulled the same feat hundreds of millions of years before us.

Snakes on a search for water slip into suburban toilets in Townsville in north Queensland.

Stocks of Fav-Afrique, which neutralises 10 different snakebites that can occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, are desperately needed. The last batch will expire in June 2016 and there is no comparable replacement.

To biologists’ delight, the extinct Azuay stubfoot toad has just leapt back to life in Ecuador. Three independent teams of scientists were involved in the rediscovery of a small group of the toads living in mountain forests near Cuenca (map)—and most crucially, the newfound amphibians haven’t shown signs of chytrid, a deadly fungus that was blamed for their demise nearly 15 years ago.

An Australian spear fisherman captures one of the world's most venomous fish and a deadly snake in the middle of a fight for life.

California man picked up the snake to take a photo with it. Needless to say,it did not end well.

As children, we saw the mean Kaa slithering about in trees in Jungle Book - but did you ever wonder how a huge and heavy animal devoid of limbs could could climb up a tree trunk in the first place? The following video posted on YouTube by Cosmopolitans clears the mystery up.

It's a nighmarish situation: A gigantic snake slowly curls around your body, enveloping you in its slithery embrace. You begin seeing stars, and start gasping for breath. But your life will not end because you're suffocating. Actually, it's more like you're having your insides squeezed shut.

Scientists find the first ever four-legged snake, which lived at the time of the dinosaurs and probably dug burrows.