encyclopedia

Common name : Beaked sea snake, Hook-nosed sea snake Scientific name : Enhydrina schistosa Family : Hydrophiidae Native to : Tropical Indo-pacific region Interesting fact : Beaked sea snakes can stay under water for five hours. Conservation status : Least Concern The Valakadyn sea snake has a beak-shaped projection on the snout. It is olive […]

Scientific name : Myobatrachus gouldii Family : Myobatrachidae Native to : Western Australia Interesting fact : There is no tadpole stage and little frogs hatch directly from eggs. Conservation status : Least Concern The turtle frog is a strange looking frog which looks like a small turtle without its shell. The skin is pink and

Scientific name : Agalychnis callidryas Family : Hyla Native to : America and Australia Interesting fact : The famous ‘ribbit’ sound is made by the male frog to attract females. Conservation status : At risk Tree frogs are a group of over 800 species of small frogs that spend most of their life on trees.

Common name : Glass frog Family : Centrolenidae Native to : Central and South America and Mexico Interesting fact : Glass frogs have unique forward facing eyes instead of on the sides. One can see the organs inside the glass frog as its underside is completely translucent. Its skin colour is lime green to dark

Scientific name : Gekko gecko Family : Gekkonidae Native to : Distributed from North-East India to Indo-Australian archipelago Interesting fact : One can literally see through the ears of these geckos. Conservation status : Not Assessed Tokay geckos have grainy, blue or grey skins with bright red or yellow spots. The toes are adapted for

Scientific name : Ambystoma tigrinum Family : Ambystomatidae Native to : North America Interesting fact : The tiger salamander can re-grow its limbs if they are lost or damaged. Conservation status : Least Concern The tiger salamander has yellow stripes on a dark body resembling a tiger’s stripes. You can rarely see them as they

Scientific name : Batrachoseps stebbinsi Family : Plethodontidae Native to : California, United States Interesting fact : As a way of defence, they detach their tails which wriggle and distract the predator. These tails can then grow back. Conservation status : Vulnerable The Tehachapi slender salamander is dark brown with shimmering speckles of copper red

Scientific name : Oxyuranus Family : Elapidae Native to : Australia Interesting fact : Even if the prey escapes the bite of a taipan, it follows the scent of the prey and kills it eventually. Conservation status : Not Assessed The taipan is a group of highly venomous snakes. Three different species of taipans are

Common name : Strawberry poison-dart frog Scientific name : Oophaga pumilio Family : Dendrobatidae Native to : Central America Interesting fact : The males also contributed to parenting by carrying water in their posterior openings to hydrate the eggs. Conservation status : Least Concern            True to its name, the strawberry poison frog has a bright

Scientific name : Astrotia stokesii Family : Hydrophiidae Native to : Indo-pacific ocean Interesting fact : These snakes sometimes swim in groups forming a line that is 10 feet wide and many miles long. Conservation status : Least Concern The stoke’s sea snake is quite heavy and stout for a sea snake. They are creamy

Common name : Greek tortoise, Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise Scientific name : Testudo graeca Family : Testudinidae Native to : Spain, Africa, Europe and the Middle East Interesting fact : The spur-thighed tortoise is confused with the Hermanns tortoise as they look alike. Conservation status : Vulnerable The spur-thighed tortoise can be identified by a conical

Scientific name : Naja sp. Family : Elapidae Native to : Africa, South-West Asia, South Asia and South-East Asia Interesting fact : They can spit venom up to a distance of 2 metres. Conservation status : Least Concern Spitting cobras can squirt the venom through holes in their fangs. This happens when muscles squeeze the