Smooth Softshell Turtle

Reptiles > Turtles and Tortoises

The Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica) is the sleek, pancake-flat speedster of North America’s great river systems. Inhabiting the fast-flowing waters of the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri river basins, this river specialist looks more like a...

Forest Cobra

Reptiles > Snakes

The Forest Cobra (Naja melanoleuca), celebrated across Africa as the Black Cobra or White-lipped Cobra, is the colossal, glossy monarch of the genus Naja and the largest true cobra species on Earth. Capable of exceeding ten feet in total length, this muscular,...

Cape Cobra

Reptiles > Snakes

The Cape Cobra (Naja nivea), celebrated throughout southern Africa as the ‘Koperkapel’ (Copper Cobra) or ‘Geelslang’ (Yellow Snake), is one of the most formidable, beautiful, and dangerously venomous elapids on the African continent. Possessing...

Crocodile Monitor

Reptiles > Lizards and Geckos

The Crocodile Monitor (Varanus salvadorii), known locally in New Guinea as the ‘Artellia’, is an awe-inspiring, arboreal apex predator and the longest lizard in the world. Capable of exceeding ten feet in total length—with an astonishing, whip-like tail...

Arrau Turtle

Reptiles > Turtles and Tortoises

The Arrau Turtle (Podocnemis expansa), revered across the Amazon and Orinoco basins as the South American River Turtle or Giant Amazon River Turtle, is the largest freshwater turtle in the Americas and the second-largest in the world. Reaching shell lengths of over a...

Williams’ Dwarf Gecko

Reptiles > Lizards and Geckos

Williams’ Dwarf Gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi), celebrated worldwide as the ‘Electric Blue Gecko’ or ‘Turquoise Dwarf Gecko’, is one of the most vividly colored lizards on the planet. Discovered in the 1950s in the lowland karst forests...

Sonoran Desert Tortoise

Reptiles > Tortoises

The Sonoran Desert Tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) is an iconic, armored keystone herbivore that reigns over the rugged, boulder-strewn foothills of the Sonoran Desert. Genetically distinct from the Mojave desert tortoise, this tough, ancient survivor makes its home...

Western Foxsnake

Reptiles > Colubrids

The Western Foxsnake (Pantherophis ramspotti) is a handsome, beneficial prairie constrictor native to the upper Midwestern plains of the United States. Named for the pungent, musky odor reminiscent of a red fox that it secretes when handled, this docile rodent hunter...

Louisiana Pine Snake

Reptiles > Colubrids

The Louisiana Pine Snake (Pituophis ruthveni) is one of the rarest, most secretive, and most endangered snakes in North America. Endemic to the fire-maintained longleaf pine savannas of Louisiana and Texas, this heavy-bodied, burrowing constrictor spends over 90% of...

Anegada Ground Iguana

Reptiles > Iguanians

The Anegada Ground Iguana (Cyclura pinguis), also known as the Stout Rock Iguana or Anegada Rock Iguana, is an imposing, prehistoric lizard native to the coral island of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands. As the most basal and ancestral member of the genus...