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Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Tree Frog

Barro Colorado Island, One Hundred Years of Science and Discoveries

Five Panamanian scientists share a glance at the experience of working in the tropical biologist’s dream, Barro Colorado Island

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Have Antillean Manatees Crossed the Panama Canal into the Pacific?

Over half a century ago, a group of manatees from Panama's Caribbean region of Bocas del Toro was flown into the Panama Canal to control the abundance of aquatic plants in its water reservoir and prevent the proliferation of disease-transmitting mosquitoes. Where are they now?

Bat lands on a speaker to collect a baitfish reward

Does This Ring a Bell? Wild Bats Can Remember Sounds for Years

Researcher May Dixon discovered that frog-eating bats could recognize ringtones indicating a food reward up to four years later

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A Yellow Submarine Explores the Depths of the Panamanian Pacific

Six scientists from Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador spent two weeks exploring the recently expanded Cordillera de Coiba marine protected area, an unknown region to science. This is what they saw.

Ricardo Moreno on the field

Can Humans and Jaguars Coexist? A Wildlife Biologist Uses Technology and Education to Reduce Conflict

From tracking large felines across the continent to helping rural communities protect biodiversity, Panamanian biologist Ricardo Moreno turned his childhood dream into a mission

Escudo de Veraguas Island

An Indigenous Language Book Presents the Unique Biodiversity of a Panamanian Island

Botanist Alicia Ibañez hopes the book, which presents new data on the tiny island’s endemic flora and fauna in both Spanish and Ngäbere, will increase awareness of the importance of preserving its biodiversity

Acanthoctenus manauara female.

A Young Biologist Shares Her Love for Eight-Legged Creatures

Self-professed spider-fan and arachnid systematist Stephany Arizala would like more people to study this megadiverse group, so that we can do a better job of protecting them

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Smelly Ocelot Habitats May Scare Off Agoutis

These rodents seem less likely to snack in areas where ferocious felines have peed

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Accidental Slingshot Wound to a Tree Reveals Unexpected Ant Behavior

Despite significant movement restrictions during the first wave of the pandemic in Panama City, a group of curious high school students roamed their neighborhood drilling holes into Cecropia trees and documenting how Azteca alfari ants responded to damage to their host plant.

As part of her fieldwork, Fernandez habituated the bats to her presence near their day-roosts, obtaining observations of their natural behaviors and recording their vocalizations in a completely undisturbed environment during months. (Ana Endara)

Similar to Human Babies, This Bat Species Learns to Communicate Through Babbling and Vocal Imitation

Long-term monitoring of the bat species Saccopteryx bilineata in their natural setting revealed that pups display babbling behavior strikingly similar to that of human infants

Many terrestrial birds disappeared in Barro Colorado Island, in the Panama Canal, despite their abundance in adjacent mainland forests, because they could not cross Gatun Lake to maintain populations on the island. (Ghislain Rompre)

Biodiversity Loss Despite a Century of Protection

The Barro Colorado bird community has lost about a quarter of its species over time

From the surface, the havoc caused on a coral reef by a layer of low-oxygen water was barely evident.

Watch What Happens When A Coral Reef Can't Get Enough Oxygen

In September, 2017, divers observed a massive 'dead zone' rising to envelop Caribbean coral reefs in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Smithsonian post-docs formed a team to understand why reef animals were fleeing, and the role of humans in the history of hypoxia.

In her lab at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Annette Aiello usually rears caterpillars to find out which butterflies they become as adults, but in this case, she focused her attention on cicadas emerging from a houseplant on her porch in Arraijan, Panama. (J. Aleman/STRI)

A Smithsonian Researcher Caged and Reared Cicadas From Nymphs to Adulthood

An observation of an insect exoskeleton on a potted plant may lead to the identification of a new insect species

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