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Science / Wildlife

The National Museum of Natural History’s Lepidoptera collection holds up to half of the world's species of hawk moths, important pollinators for many wild ecosystems. There are over 1450 species of hawk moths in total on Earth.

Smithsonian Voices

Why Hawk Moths Are the Underdogs of the Pollinator World

These pollinators safeguard many habitats, visiting the rare and beautiful flowers of many native and endangered plants

Bats have harbored dangerous coronaviruses that crossed to humans, like SARS-CoV-2.

Covid-19

These Scientists Hunt for Viruses in Animals Before They Strike Humans

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers were searching for potential human pathogens in wild animals. They’ve found thousands

A sea otter grooms its dense fur while resting in a kelp bed off the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

Bringing Back Sea Otters Benefits People, Too

These predators compete with fisheries for shellfish along the Pacific coast, but an economic analysis explains the positives of reintroduction

And adult magicicada cicada requires 17 years to complete development.

Cicadas Are Delightful Weirdos You Should Learn to Love

As Brood IX takes flight for the first time in 17 years, cicada lovers have their ears open.

A young koala recovers at the wildlife park hospital.

Planet Positive

The Great Koala Rescue Operation

Raging bushfires. Devastated wildlife. And the compassionate souls who went to the rescue

Paratype of Florida's rare blue calamintha bee (male)

Blue Bee Feared to Be Extinct Is Found in Florida

First discovered in 2011, the rare species reappeared recently after nearly a decade of eluding scientists’ watch

The Asian Giant Hornet, Vespa mandarinia, can grow up to two inches long and is a species not native to North America. The National Insect Collection, co-curated by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), houses one of the first specimens collected in North America

Smithsonian Voices

Here’s Why the Invasive Asian Giant Hornet’s Identification Is Actually a Scientific Success Story

Notorious ‘Murder’ hornet finds home in Smithsonian collections

In a normal year, about 40,000 people travel to Kearney between March and April to join popular crane festivals. But on March 13, Rowe Sanctuary shut down due to the spread of COVID-19, canceling its tours and closing all trails.

Covid-19

How COVID-19 Is Disrupting Crucial Conservation Efforts

Researchers behind habitat restoration and wildlife protection groups are struggling to continue work amid the pandemic

A new study from scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center analyzed about 35,000 bone and shell fragments from the Maya city of Ceibal.

Bones Tell the Tale of a Maya Settlement

A new study tracks how the ancient civilization used animals for food, ritual purposes and even as curiosities

Peale’s mastodon returns to the U.S. as part of this year's upcoming exhibition “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Alexander von Humboldt

The Story of Charles Willson Peale’s Massive Mastodon

When a European intellectual snubbed the U.S., the well-known artist excavated the giant fossil as evidence of the new Republic’s strength and power

Through the Manta Trust's adoption program, donors can choose to adopt any one of a number of frequently sighted manta rays in the Maldives.

Virtual Travel

Ten Animals and Plants Around the World That You Can (Virtually) Adopt

While COVID-19 stymies travel, help conserve those things—from cacti to manta rays—that will beckon you later

Featured insects include the Picasso moth, the violin beetle, the green milkweed grasshopper and the cuckoo wasp.

The World’s Most Interesting Insects

A new title from Smithsonian Books highlights the diversity of Earth’s 10 to 100 million insect species

Honduran scarlet macaws.

How the Stunning Scarlet Macaw Came Back From the Brink

The bird, decimated by poachers and smugglers, is making a big comeback in the Central American rainforest

Reconstruction of Palaeochiropteryx

Why Bats Are One of Evolution’s Greatest Puzzles

Paleontologists seek the ancestors that could explain how bats became the only flying mammals.

Owl-inspired innovations can reduce noise by as much as 10 decibels, similar to the difference in noise between a passing truck and a passing car.

To Silence Wind Turbines and Airplanes, Engineers Are Studying Owl Wings

No one knows exactly how the nocturnal hunters manage their whisper-soft flight, yet it’s inspiring the design of quieter airplanes, fans and wind turbines

Researchers from the Smithsonian's Global Health Program found six new coronaviruses in bats in Myanmar.

Smithsonian Scientists Discover Six New Coronaviruses in Bats in Myanmar

The new viruses are not harmful to humans or closely related to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19

The epidemic claimed the lives of some 8 million pigs by spring of 2014.

Covid-19

A Coronavirus Spread Through U.S. Pigs in 2013. Here’s How It Was Stopped

The containment practices of outbreaks past could have lessons for modern epidemics

Paleontologists crossing the Rio Yurúa in Amazonian Perú, with the Santa Rosa fossil site in the background.

More Than 30 Million Years Ago, Monkeys Rafted Across the Atlantic to South America

Fossil teeth uncovered in Peru reveal that an extinct family of primates, thought to have lived only in Africa, made it across the ocean

Echo, a five-year-old cheetah and first-time mother, gave birth to four cubs on April 8.

Watch Live as the National Zoo’s Cheetah Gives Birth to a Litter of Cubs

Congratulations to first-time mother Echo the cheetah!

Menhaden fishing

Covid-19

With Boats Stuck in Harbor Because of COVID-19, Will Fish Bounce Back?

The pandemic has left many unable to leave harbor, creating a window for fishing grounds to recover from years of overfishing

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