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Nestled within the lush woodlands of Uganda, a peculiar creature resembling a "dwarf" caught the attention of passing scientists. This pregnant animal sought refuge on a tree trunk, though its attempts were not entirely successful. To the astonishment of the researchers, this encounter led to the discovery of a previously unknown species, shrouded in mystery.

Rare female lizards that reside around Colorado’s Fort Carson Army base are “stress eating” to cope with military aircraft fly-over noise, a new study has found. These uncommon reptiles, called Colorado checkered whiptails, are engaging in compensatory feeding behaviors when low-flying Apache, Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters — and sometimes F-16 fighter jets — swoop over their habitat, according to the study, published on Wednesday in Frontiers in Amphibian and Reptile Science. Lizards tend to have excellent hearing and are sensitive to much lower frequencies than humans are, the study authors explained. Colorado checkered whiptails are members of a species considered...

In So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (the fourth book in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy of six books"), Douglas Adams brutalizes "democracy" in a hilarious exchange: "On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people." "Odd," said Arthur. "I thought you said it was a democracy." "I did," said Ford. "It is." "So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?" "It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the...

Former Iranian armed forces chief Hassan Firouzabadi, who once accused Western nations of spying on the country using lizards, has died of coronavirus aged 70, local media reported on Friday. Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami praised Firouzabadi's "continuous efforts" to defend "the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran", in a statement published on the Guards' Sepahnews website. A trained doctor, Firouzabadi joined the Basij Islamic volunteer militia during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88. Serving in administrative roles, he swiftly rose up its ranks before being named head of the armed forces in September 1989 by Iran's supreme leader...

Lepidosaurs are scaled reptiles such as lizards, snakes, and New Zealand's tuatara, which together represent the most diverse group of land-living vertebrates alive today. Yet little is known about their early origins compared to the other arms of reptilian evolution which produced crocodiles, birds, and turtles... The fossil, found in Ischigualasto Provincial Park in northwest Argentina, is about 11 million years younger than the oldest known lepidosaurs from Europe, but one of the best-preserved specimens of its kind, which means the team can have more confidence in their analyses... It's a lucky find, especially considering the origins of lepidosaurs have...

Authorities are looking into evidence that Nashville RV bomber Anthony Quinn Warner spent time hunting for aliens and was interested in “lizard people,” ABC News reported. Law enforcement sources told the outlet that investigators found some of Warner’s writings containing ramblings about various conspiracy theories. Some of the notes were reportedly about the lizard or reptilian conspiracy — the idea that shape-shifting lizard creatures take on human form in an attempt at world domination. Authorities believe the 63-year-old loner also spent time hunting for alien life forms in a nearby state park, the outlet reported. It’s unclear if any of...

Wildlife officials are warning that tegu – a South American lizard that can grow up to the size of a dog – continue to spread across the Southeast. The Argentine black-and-white tegu is an invasive animal that has spread to Georgia and South Carolina but has also been reported in Alabama. The lizards, which can grow up to 10 pounds and 4-feet long, are “voracious invaders,” according to National Geographic and, once established in an area, it’s hard to control the spread. Once established tegu will eat just about anything – birds, reptiles, fruits and vegetables. They also like eggs,...

It sure didn’t look like he wanted to be rescued. The chameleon was spotted clinging to a power line by a neighbor looking through a window of her Daly City home. For three days, he didn’t move from his perch. Maybe he was enjoying soaking up the unusual early November sun. Besides, bad things happen at street level — cars trying to squash you under their wheels, coyotes looking for a quick snack, feral cats, even raccoons. Better to stay above it all, safe and sound. Where he came from is a mystery. Daly City is not known for its...

A Florida man turned lizard smuggler pleaded guilty this week in federal court to trafficking live water monitor lizards from the Philippines. Akbar Akram, of Holiday, Florida, near Tampa, admitted to illegally importing more than 20 live water monitor lizards in 2016, according to the plea documents. The documents say Akram stuffed the lizards into socks and sealed them with tape, before hiding them inside electronic equipment which was shipped under a false label.

For Christmas this year, my family adopted a young bearded dragon lizard as a pet. Our dragon, whom we named Holly, eats a lot, and the thing she loves to eat most is crickets (typically about 10 a day, in addition to other things like mealworms and vegetables). From the get-go, I knew that keeping an ample supply of crickets on hand would require some planning. We live in a rural area of northwestern Minnesota. The closest pet shop is an hour away, in North Dakota. Restocking our cricket supply would require a time commitment of at least two hours...

Take, for instance, a wind farm in the Western Ghats region of India, where a group of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science performed their study. In the area of the wind farm, raptors were around four times less common than in other areas. They kept dying to the turbines, which is not great for the raptors but good news for fan-throated lizards, the raptors’ prey. In and around the wind farm, lizard populations exploded, completely unchecked by predation. So few of them were being eaten that they even lost almost all fear of danger. The researchers found they...

A group of South American lizards that can grow up to four feet long (1.2 meters) has established a home in the Florida wild after being brought to the United States as pets, and the reptiles could begin a voracious march across the U.S. South, according to a new study. Tegu lizards, which currently live in two large colonies in Florida, could expand into an area from the Carolinas to Central Texas, according to the scientific report published in July on the website for the journal Nature.

A TOURIST who refused to pay for a tour guide was mauled by a fearsome Komodo dragon. Lon Lee Alle, 50, from Singapore, ventured alone into a secluded area to watch the wild beasts gorging on goats and pigs in West Manggarai, Indonesia.

As if life wasn't hard enough during the last Ice Age, a new study has found Australia's first human inhabitants had to contend with giant killer lizards. Researchers working in Central Queensland were amazed when they unearthed the first evidence that Australia's early human inhabitants and giant apex predator lizards had overlapped

The Tampa Bay area seems to be a fertile breeding ground for an exotic lizard that wildlife officials want to keep from becoming the state's next invasive species problem. More than 100 black-and-white tegu lizards have been spotted in Hillsborough County, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The area is now considered home to one of three tegu breeding populations in the state. Wildlife officials have spotted more than 100 of them between Riverview and Gibsonton. The animals, which are native to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, do not belong in the habitat in southwest Florida, and...

Everyone knows that sometimes the strangest animals can become friends, but this kitten is having none of it. When he meets the house lizards he doesn't even know what to do with them. So he overreacts. A lot. Thankfully the lizards just wait him out and eventually the cat gives himself a timeout off camera.

BANGKOK, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Thai officials reassured the U.S. Secret Service that lizards found on the Government House grounds were not the dangerous komodo dragons, but water lizards.

His species is renowned for its ability to blend in, but this tiny critter is even better than most as the world's smallest chameleon. Balanced on the tip of a scientist's fingernail in Madagascar, the-three centimetre reptile is no bigger than the flies that form his average-sized cousin's lunch. Scientists discovered four new species - called Brookesia micra - on a small islet just off the main island.

ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) - A Roswell woman is asking for the public's help in finding a missing member of her family. But this is no ordinary missing person's case. The missing member is an iguana that's around 5 feet long. 'Izzy' the iguana has only lived with the Atkinson family since last Thursday, but he's already made a run for it. Owner Melissa Atkinson said he hadn't quite adapted to all of his new siblings yet. "Okay, I have six poodles, a guard dog, two cats, a ferret, oh, and a snake," Atkinson explained. Her 7-foot red-tail Columbian Boa knows...

A San Carlos woman fatally stabbed her boyfriend's pet bearded dragon in cold blood, the first act of a drama that ended with her in jail for trying to grab a sheriff's deputy's gun, authorities say. Shawna Apour, 37, killed the lizard because she thought her boyfriend was flirting with other women, said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. The victim was Speedy, a 14-year-old bearded dragon, said sheriff's Lt. Ray Lunny. Speedy clung to life for three days before dying.