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Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Smithsonian Voices

Ant Bird Group_2024_0803_JAleman-41.jpg

Following the Swarm: Making a Documentary Short Film In Panama’s Tropical Forest

At the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, researchers track swarms of carnivorous army ants and the birds that follow them. A new documentary reveals a glimpse of life, and research, in the Neotropics

Olivia Milloway | April 3, 2024
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Rare Shark Spotted for the First Time in Panama’s Eastern Pacific

The elusive prickly shark was observed during a submarine expedition to the depths of the Cordillera de Coiba seamounts, a biodiversity hotspot and marine protected area

Leila Nilipour | March 9, 2024
Colorless corals

Why Are There Suddenly So Many Bleached Corals Along the Caribbean Coast of Panama?

A massive coral bleaching event in Panama’s Guna Yala islands along the eastern Caribbean coast signals a major problem with rising ocean temperatures and their long-term effects

Vanessa Crooks | March 7, 2024
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A 17-Year Study Reveals How Dead Leaves Are a Tropical Forest Lifeline

A 17-year experiment in Panama revealed that the process of leaves falling and decomposing on the ground provides nutrients to the soil that help promote tree growth in otherwise infertile tropical forests.

Leila Nilipour | February 22, 2024
BCI Mangrove fossils

A 22 Million-Year-Old Mangrove Forest Was Discovered on Panama’s Barro Colorado Island

A volcanic eruption triggered a sediment flow that preserved a mangrove forest around what is now Barro Colorado Island, providing a better glimpse of the vegetation that existed in a highly changing area

Vanessa Crooks | February 5, 2024
Joshua Tewksbury

Why the World Needs a Standard Measure for Counting Carbon

To jumpstart the carbon economy, scientists around the globe need to be aligned in how they analyze the solutions to the climate crisis

Joshua Tewksbury | December 13, 2023
Image 02_Opossum & sabretooth marsupial skulls_by Javier Luque.jpg

Extraordinary Fossil Find Reveals Details About the Weight and Diet of Extinct Saber-Toothed Marsupial

A 13-million-year-old saber-toothed marsupial skeleton discovered during paleontological explorations in Colombia is the most complete specimen recovered in the region

Leila Nilipour | October 12, 2023
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A Turtle Time Capsule: DNA Found in Ancient Shell

Paleontologists discover possible DNA remains in fossil turtle that lived 6 million years ago in Panama, where continents collide

Leila Nilipour | September 28, 2023
boat in Panama's Montijo Bay

First global assessment of the sustainability of coral reef fisheries

An innovative mathematical analysis of global coral reef fisheries offers hope for sustainable management of multispecies and artisanal fishing, especially in the global South

Elisabeth King | September 26, 2023
Victoria Flores and Sara Vasquez (photo by Michael Le Chevallier).jpg

Gamboa Bat Nights: Bilingual Noches de Murciélagos along the Panama Canal

The first Sunday of every month, you can join researchers from the Smithsonian Bat Lab to get a close-up look at Panama’s bats

Olivia Milloway | September 22, 2023
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

Vanessa Crooks | August 22, 2023
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Marine Fossils Unearth Story About Panama’s Deep Past

New fossil mammals found in Caribbean Panama suggest ongoing marine interchange during the final stages of formation of the isthmus connecting North and South America

Leila Nilipour | July 12, 2023
Four key actions

The Key to Ocean Conservation May Lie with the Tropical Majority

Researchers from the global tropics offer a different perspective on marine conservation, by shifting the focus to the people in the tropical regions

Vanessa Crooks | July 7, 2023
Map of Panama MPAs

Bigger Is Better: Panama Expands MPA to Protect More Than 54 Percent of Its Oceans

This initiative, backed by data from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, aims to mitigate climate change, protect the country’s deep-sea marine-mountain environments, and safeguard wildlife from human intervention

Leila Nilipour | March 2, 2023
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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?

Leila Nilipour | July 13, 2022
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

Vanessa Crooks | July 13, 2022
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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.

Leila Nilipour | June 7, 2022
Secretary Bunch atop the canopy crane

Secretary Lonnie Bunch Visits the 'Farthest Rock From the Sun of the Smithsonian'

The Secretary visited facilites in Panama and got to see the important science being done at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute first-hand

Vanessa Crooks | May 16, 2022
Categories
  • Connections in Nature (22)
  • Life in Deep Time (10)
  • Origins of Species and Societies (10)
  • Social Sciences (6)
  • Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet (30)
  • Tropical Research (36)
Archive
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  • 2019 (3)
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  • 2022 (12)
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