Wildlife

Biologist Eric Forsman was delighted that a breeding pair of wild spotted owls he has studied for years did it again (their 3-week-old hatchlings on a hemlock in Oregon this past May).

The Spotted Owl's New Nemesis

An battle between environmentalists and loggers left much of the owl's habitat protected. Now the spotted owl faces a new threat

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Elevations

Disparate views from on high

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The Year of Charles Darwin Ultimate Tour (Part 1)

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A Year of Wild Things -- Orcas, Alligators, Caterpillars, Lizards, and More!

The Wild Things column in the magazine is, by far, the most fun part to work on

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Spiders Are Not As Old As We Thought

The oldest fossil spider was thought to be Attercopus fimbriunguis, which lived around 386 million years ago

More Bad News for the Salmon

Earlier this year, in "On California’s Coast, Farewell to the King Salmon," Abigail Tucker immersed herself and us in the lives of chinook salmon

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Some Whispering Bats Might Need a New Name

These whispering bats never really whispered. Their echolocations were thought to be about 70 decibels, about the level of sound coming from speaking

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Picture of the Week—Hawaiian Honeyeaters

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Primatologist’s Prison Sentence Commuted

Primatologist and Amazon adventurer Marc van Roosmalen was convicted last year in Brazil of illegal wildlife trafficking and theft of government property

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The Mystery of the Missing Acorns

I was surprised to read in the Washington Post yesterday that oak trees from northern Virginia to Nova Scotia failed to produce any acorns this year

Climate change causes carbon dioxide to dissolve in ocean water making it more acidic and efficient at transmitting sound waves.

Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Chewing dinosaurs, climate change, self-sacrificing ants and black bears

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Picture of the Week – Is that Lettuce?

This is a sea slug, Elysia chlorotica, and it looks like a leaf because it has acquired chloroplasts from its algal prey and stored them in its gut lining

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Cook Your Bird with Thermite!

Seven Questions for Turkey Day

In preparation for tomorrow’s big day, I offer you a selection of articles on the theme of turkey science:How did the turkey in my oven get so big?

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Mountain Gorilla Rangers Negotiate Safe Passage in Congo

One of the first Smithsonian articles I worked on was last year’s Guerrillas in Their Midst, about the endangered mountain gorillas of Rwanda and Congo

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I Thought Darwin Studied Finches

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When Will There Be Herds of Mammoths?

With the announcement that the woolly mammoth genome has been sequenced, it seems natural to ask when we will finally see live mammoths

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Sabertooth Cat: More Like a Lion or a House Cat?

It is difficult to figure out the behaviors of an animal that lived thousands—or millions—of years ago when all you have are its fossilized bones

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And the Next Species Predicted to Be Lost to Climate Change is…

…the antilopine wallaroo, a type of kangaroo that lives in wet, tropical areas of Australia

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Insect Trivia

Test your insect knowledge by answering these trivia questions

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