Tag Archive for 'Seychelles'

Caecilians are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. Image credit: Marco Mancuso.

Biologists Discover Unprecedented Resistance to Snake Venom in Caecilians

Jul 25, 2023 by News Staff

Living amphibians include frogs and salamanders and the limbless worm-like caecilians (order Gymnophiona). Caecilians have cylindrical bodies with a compact,...

Top - Madagascar, from left to right: Aldabrachelys abrupta, Aldabrachelys grandidieri, Pyxis planicauda, Pyxis arachnoides, Astrochelys rogerbouri (new species), Astrochelys yniphora, and Astrochelys radiata. Center - Granitic Seychelles (extinct), Aldabra, Aldabrachelys gigantea. Bottom - Mascarenes, from left to right: Cylindraspis indica (Réunion), Cylindraspis inepta, Cylindraspis triserrata (both Mauritius), Cylindraspis vosmaeri, and Cylindraspis peltastes (both Rodrigues). Image credit: Michal Rössler / Massimo Delfino.

Ancient DNA Study Elucidates Lost World of Indian Ocean Giant Tortoises

Jan 16, 2023 by News Staff

Before humans arrived, giant tortoises occurred on many islands in the western Indian Ocean. In new research, Professor Uwe Fritz from the Senckenberg...

Chelonoidis abingdonii. Image credit: Quesada et al, doi: 10.1038/s41559-018-0733-x.

Giant Tortoise Genomes Provide Insights into Gigantism, Longevity and Age-Related Disease

Dec 5, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers from Yale University, the University of Oviedo in Spain, the Galapagos Conservancy, and the Galapagos National Park Service has sequenced...

Prionopelta seychelles paratype worker, head in full-face view. Image credit: Overson R & Fisher BL.

Six New Species of ‘Dracula’ Ants Discovered in Seychelles, Madagascar

Jun 24, 2015 by News Staff

California Academy of Sciences entomologists, Dr Rick Overson and Dr Brian Fisher, have described six new species of bizarre underground ants in the...