Cascabel Rattlesnake

Reptiles > Snakes

The Cascabel Rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus), also known simply as the South American Rattlesnake or cascavel, is the only species of rattlesnake native to South America. While its northern cousins in North America are renowned for tissue-destructive hemotoxic venoms,...

Jararaca

Reptiles > Snakes

The Jararaca (Bothrops jararaca) is one of the most medically significant, ecologically abundant, and scientifically transformative venomous pit vipers in the Western Hemisphere. Endemic to the lush, biodiverse Atlantic forest biome of southeastern Brazil, Paraguay,...

Golden Lancehead

Reptiles > Snakes

The Golden Lancehead (Bothrops insularis) is one of the most venomous, geographically isolated, and legally protected pit vipers on Earth. Confined exclusively to Ilha da Queimada Grande—the notorious, uninhabited ‘Snake Island’ located twenty-two miles...

Egyptian Spiny-tailed Lizard

Reptiles > Lizards

The Egyptian Spiny-tailed Lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia), celebrated throughout the Arab world as the dabb lizard or Egyptian mastigure, is an imposing, prehistoric-looking agamid lizard native to the hyper-arid gravel plains and stony plateaus of North Africa and the...

Bushmaster

Reptiles > Snakes

The Bushmaster (Lachesis muta), celebrated throughout the Amazon as the surucucu and in Trinidad as the mute master of the woods, is the longest venomous snake in the Western Hemisphere and the second-longest viper in the world, surpassed in length only by the king...

Indian Star Tortoise

Reptiles > Turtles & Tortoises

The Indian Star Tortoise (Geochelone elegans) is an exquisitely patterned, medium-sized terrestrial chelonian native to the arid scrublands, thorn forests, and rocky savannas of the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. Belonging to the true tortoise family Testudinidae,...

Fer-de-lance

Reptiles > Snakes

The Fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper), universally celebrated and feared throughout Central America as the terciopelo or ‘velvet skin’, is a large, highly venomous neotropical pit viper native to the lowland rainforests and agricultural foothills of Central...

Bengal Monitor

Reptiles > Lizards

The Bengal Monitor (Varanus bengalensis), universally celebrated throughout South Asia as the common Indian monitor or ghorpad, is a large, highly adaptable varanid lizard widely distributed across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Belonging to the monitor...

Blood Python

Reptiles > Snakes

The Blood Python (Python brongersmai), historically known as the red short-tailed python or Brongersma’s short-tailed python in honor of Dutch herpetologist Leo Brongersma, is a magnificent, heavy-bodied non-venomous constrictor snake native to the tropical peat...

Dumeril’s Boa

Reptiles > Snakes

Dumeril’s Boa (Acrantophis dumerili, also classified as Boa dumerili), named in honor of legendary French herpetologist André Marie Constant Duméril, is a stout, heavy-bodied non-venomous constrictor snake strictly endemic to the arid spiny forests and dry...