Mammals
There's a New Tool in the Fight Against Elephant Poaching
An American biologist wields an innovative weapon against the illegal trade in African ivory
Incredibly Cute Polar Bear Cubs See the World for First Time
After a long winter in their den, a polar bear mother and her cubs emerge at the first signs of spring.
Native Americans Saw Buffalo as More Than Just Food
The relationship between some Native American tribes and the American buffalo was a sacred one
The Risky Way a Polar Bear Attack Victim Confronts Her Fear
For Erin Greene, walking up to a polar bear requires even more courage than most of us can imagine
A Fertile Polar Bear's Hard Journey From Mating to Motherhood
After mating takes place, a female polar bear will prepare for her impending pregnancy by eating voraciously. In all, she will pack on more than 400 pounds
Why the U.S. Army Guarded the 23 Remaining American Buffalo
In 1882, General Philip Sheridan's expedition to the protected buffalo haven in Yellowstone National Park revealed a gruesome reality
A Beloved Alpha Polar Bear Near the End of His Life
Saint Pete, as he's known by locals in nearby Churchill, Manitoba, is an elderly polar bear who's been visiting the town for decades
An Angry Hippo Charges a Trespassing Lion
A lion ventures into an area of the river that's part of a hippo bull's territory. The enraged hippo wastes no time in asserting his dominance
Hippo Climbs Down a Steep Cliff...With Difficulty
A 15-foot male hippo carefully negotiates his enormous body down a sheer cliff. It's the shortest and most direct route to the water
Go Big or Go Generic: How Sexual Selection Is Like Advertising
When it comes to attracting mates, it pays to either go all out—or not try at all
What Really Killed Off the Woolly Mammoth?
What caused woolly mammoths to die-off so quickly? New evidence suggests an unfavorable climate may have drove them to extinction
What Tickling Giggly Rats Can Tell Us About the Brain
Their laughter manifests in a surprising region of the cerebral cortex
Canada Can’t Figure Out Why the Ocean Floor Is Beeping
A mysterious sound has baffled residents of a far-flung hamlet
Ask Smithsonian: What’s the Longest You Can Hold Your Breath?
A dive into the science shows it is possible to override the system
North America Used to Have its Very Own Hyena
These giggly beasts didn’t just roam Africa and the Middle East. They were right here in our backyard
The Animals That Venom Can’t Touch
Meet the creatures who look into the face of venomous death and say: Not today
Scientists Puzzle Over Unusual Mammoth Skull Unearthed in the Channel Islands
The well-preserved fossil doesn't neatly fit in with other examples of the species
American Safaris: Where to See the Biggest Mammals in the U.S.
Go wild for the United States' largest mammals and take an American Safari
In Defense of Studying City Rats
By placing a taboo on researching these “disease sponges,” we leave ourselves at their mercy
There Are Four Giraffe Species—Not Just One
The downside to this revelation: several of the new species are critically endangered
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