In 2009, this copperhead gave birth to a litter of four offspring that were outwardly normal in appearance, two of which were alive at birth. Analysis of DNA from the mother, one live offspring and one of the stillborn progeny revealed no signs of genes from a father, suggesting a true virgin birth.

"With the availability of DNA fingerprinting technologies, we are now becoming aware that the process of parthenogenesis is in fact more common than we ever imagined," Booth told LiveScience.

Parthenogenesis may have evolved in these snakes as a mechanism to battle a lack of suitable mates.

"Instead of wasting eggs, which are costly to produce and a finite resource, parthenogenesis may represent an alternate means of reproduction to overcome this," Booth said. In light of the loss of habitat these snakes face, virgin births might allow this species to hold on a little longer, he added.

The fisheries Service has linked these “strandings” to drowning in shrimp fishing nets. Despite this rise in sea turtle strandings and the devastating impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the conservation groups say the agency has not fulfilled its duty to protect the imperiled animals from harm.

Recent federal reports show the number of drownings in the Gulf alone likely exceeds the allowable take for the Gulf and Atlantic shrimp fisheries combined, and also indicate significant noncompliance with existing regulations. The lawsuit aims to force the fisheries service to complete the required studies and adopt interim measures to protect turtles.

“Sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico are still reeling from the impacts of last year’s oil spill, and they simply can’t withstand the chronic threat of drowning in shrimp nets,” said Jacyln Lopez, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The government’s own data show that record numbers of sea turtles have perished in the Gulf of Mexico this year, yet the Fisheries Service has not taken protective measures to prevent sea turtles from dying in the shrimp-trawl fishery.”

Shrimp trawling has for many decades been the primary threat to sea turtle survival in the U.S., and turtles in the Gulf of Mexico may be more vulnerable now to drowning in shrimp nets as a result of the BP spill and cleanup efforts. The shrimp trawl fishery incidentally captures and kills thousands of threatened and endangered sea turtles each year. “Turtle excluder devices” can help prevent turtles from drowning in the nets, but not all shrimpers are required to use them and still others simply don’t comply with existing regulations.

"It's really horrible that we're in a situation where hundreds of animals are disappearing," said Kouba, director of conservation and research at the Memphis Zoo. "If the same situation had happened with mammals, the outcry would be tremendous. But we aren't receiving the same attention to the dramatic loss of these amphibians."
The Memphis Zoo has received a $300,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to fund conservation research and study reproductive techniques for salamanders.

It's in some ways the second phase of a $120,000 IMLS grant that has helped the zoo become a leader in frog and toad reproduction, Kouba said.

The zoo is working with other institutions, including Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Its main partner is Mississippi State University, Kouba said.

The Reptiles at Risk: On the Road program is an exciting, hands-on program featuring live reptiles.

Did you know that snakes and turtles are at risk in Ontario? Immaculate principal, Louisa Bianchin, said she was excited for the students to experience these reptiles.

“This program teaches students the importance of protecting these reptiles so that they exist for future generations,” Bianchin stated in a press release. “Many snakes in our geographical area are harmless and should not be persecuted, and turtles that often cross busy roads need to be saved and avoided by drivers. This program encourages all of our students to recognize the importance of all living creatures.”

Students were so excited to handle corn snakes, rat snakes and garter snakes which were brought into the school, Bianchin said in the press release. Those who wanted to handle a snake were given this “awesome” experience and learned that it is their responsibility as the future generation to protect all reptiles so that they do not become endangered species.

In order to reduce the number of deaths caused by snakebites due to late administration or unavailability of anti-snake venom, a state-owned drugs company, Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceuticals Corporation Limited, has devised a 'medicines for snake bite' box, equipped with bottles of anti-snake venom and other simple, use-friendly paraphernalia that can save a bite victim.

[....]

"Every year, we see at least 500 cases of snakebites in the state of which 60 per cent result in death due to late administration of antivenom.

There have been instances wherein a snakebite victim has been rushed to a primary health centre, but they do not have anti-snake venom stored. Delay in treatment and loss of crucial time can results in death," said, Bharat Joshi, director, Sarpadarshan of India, a non-profit organisation.

The fossil is the shell of a big sea turtle called Taphrosphys sulcatus, which broke into hundreds of pieces during the eons that it lay buried in what is now near Sewell, Gloucester County.

Many of the fragments are smaller than a fingernail. There is no cardboard box with a helpful photo to show what the completed "puzzle" should look like.

And yet, little by little, the graceful curvature of an ancient reptile is emerging, as doctoral students Elena Schroeter, 27, and Paul Ullmann, 25, match up jagged edges and glue them together.

"It's a job for young eyes," said their supervisor, Kenneth Lacovara, an associate professor of biology at Drexel.

The finished product will be a nice display piece, perhaps at Drexel or its new affiliate, the Academy of Natural Sciences. It also may provide insight into various scientific questions, such as how turtles evolved and how they are related to other creatures.

Queensland Environment Minister Vicki Darling on Thursday said the Girrigun Aboriginal Corporation, which covers two clan groups in the Townsville region, had agreed to suspend hunting of both species indefinitely.

The clans are entitled to hunt both species under the Native Title Act but agreed to stop after widespread flooding across Queensland last summer damaged sea grass beds - the major food source for both animals - along the coastline.

The agreement comes two weeks after traditional owners' groups from Bundaberg to Gladstone agreed to self-imposed bans on hunting both species

The study's authors estimate that 4,600 sea turtles die each year in U.S. coastal waters.

Before measures to reduce bycatch were put in place, total sea turtle takes surpassed 300,000 annually. Of these, 70,000 turtles were killed.

The study used data collected from 1990 to 2007 by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to determine bycatch rates across more than 20 fisheries operating in Atlantic waters from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border, and in the Pacific Ocean, along the West coast and around Hawaii.

It found that overall turtle bycatch rates, including both fatal and nonfatal run-ins, have fallen about 60 percent since 1990.

The 60-million-year-old freshwater relative to modern crocodiles is the first known land animal from the Paleocene New World tropics specialized for eating fish, meaning it competed with Titanoboa for food. But the giant snake could have consumed its competition, too, researchers say.

"The younger individuals were definitely not safe from Titanoboa, but the biggest of these species would have been a bit much for the 42-foot snake to handle," said lead author Alex Hastings, a graduate student at the Florida Museum of Natural History and UF's department of geological sciences.

The new species is a dyrosaurid, commonly believed to be primarily ocean-dwelling, coastal reptiles. The new adult specimens challenge previous theories the animals only would have entered freshwater environments as babies before returning to sea.

Focusing on the African grey foam nest tree frog (Chiromantis xerampelina), the researchers sought to understand why females behave promiscuously, despite the risk of disease, injury and predation.

"One hypothesis for female promiscuity is that females can increase the genetic diversity of their offspring and, in so doing, increase the chance that at least some offspring survive and reproduce," Dr Byrne said.

Dr Byrne said the argument for mating with multiple partners (polyandry) was that it increased genetic diversity cushions against fluctuating selective forces in challenging environments.
"The frog's offspring are developing in an environment that's highly unpredictable in terms of rainfall, food availability and predation risk," said Dr Byrne.

"If the environment is fluctuating, it is very difficult for females to predict which male partner will provide genes that give her offspring the best chance of performing well in the future".

The last positive sighting of a sand lizard at this site was in the 1960s.

Once commonly found on sand dunes and heathland, the lizards became endangered due to gradual destruction of their habitats.

The captive bred sand lizards, reared at Marwell Zoo, have been released at Hengistbury Head as part of a long-term conservation project to restore the species status.

During the 20th Century a 90% loss of sand lizards was recorded in Dorset.

Under the ESA, an endangered species is any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. The Ozark hellbender, which grows to lengths up to 2 feet, inhabits the White River system in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. Ozark hellbender populations have declined an estimated 75 percent since the 1980s, with only about 590 individuals remaining in the wild.

It is believed numbers have dropped because of degraded water quality, habitat loss resulting from impoundments, ore and gravel mining, sedimentation , and collection for the pet trade.

Also threatening the Ozark hellbender is a fungal disease, chytridiomycosis (chytrid), and severe physical abnormalities (e.g., lesions, digit and appendage loss, epidermal sloughing) which most Ozark hellbenders exhibit.

In addition, the average age of Ozark hellbender populations is increasing and few young are being found, indicating problems with reproduction or juvenile survival. This, and the multiple threats from disease and habitat degradation, could lead to extinction of the Ozark hellbender within 20 years.

“The Ozark hellbender faces extinction without the protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act,” said Tom Melius, the Service’s Midwest Regional Director. “Listing provides tools and an infrastructure within which partners can pool resources and expertise to help save this species.”

Maternal instinct in the wild has rarely been better captured on camera. As Claudia Marlene, the photographer who took this amazing sequence of photos, says it: "Hero Mom!” Couldn't have put it better.

In 1987 Templeton transplanted collared lizards to three glades to see if he could repopulate the Ozarks. By 1993 they were still there, but they had not expanded to other glades, even though other rich habitats were no more than 200 feet away. If they remained that isolated, they would probably die out, as others had done before them.

That led to a decade-long "experiment," as Templeton put it, in conservation biology. Every effort to protect, or restore, a critical habitat is an experiment, he said, because not enough facts are known in the beginning, and it's not always clear what the result will be.

One thing did seem clear. Humans had been changing the Ozarks since the first Indians settled in the area, about 10,000 years ago. More recently, some areas had been carved out for ranching, and frequent fires had altered the landscape. And in the 1940s, authorities began controlled burning of forest areas in hopes of reducing the threat of major fires that could wipe out thousands of acres.

But there was something wrong with that picture. That wasn't the way nature had protected the lizard's habitat prior to human occupation. When a fire started, it burned everything. Maybe, Templeton thought, that's the way it should be.

In a paper appearing in Nature, a consortium of scientists share the information they've gleaned from the first sequencing of a reptile’s genome. They believe that A. carolinensis could be important for understanding the evolution of the amniotic egg, and that its genome could help them discover how it has so easily adapted to a number of various habitats, as well as lead them to the common ancestor that all amniotes (species that reproduce via amniotic eggs) share.

Amniotic eggs are eggs that have a shell and can hold water. They're a big evolutionary deal because they allowed species to be able to reproduce on land. Scientists have sequenced the genomes of mammals and birds who reproduce in this way, but A. carolinensis is the first reptile.