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Science / Wildlife

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Female Lizard Uses Patches of Color to Announce Mother Potential

Lizard moms wear their egg quality on their sleeves – or at least on their necks

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The Shark That Will Give You More Nightmares Than Jaws

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Rare Sunda Clouded Leopards Come in Two Varieties

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Giant Crayfish Species Found in Tennessee

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A Colorful Zebrafish

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Male and Female Butterflies Take Turns at Courting

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North American Bumblebees on the Decline

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Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Flamingos, T. rex Tails, Burmese monkeys and more…

These pigs are used for baying, which is how hunters train their dogs to bring the pigs down.

A Plague of Pigs in Texas

Now numbering in the millions, these shockingly destructive and invasive wild hogs wreak havoc across the southern United States

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The Elephant Family Tree, Extinct and Extant

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Young Female Chimpanzees Make “Dolls” of Sticks

Could the same dryer sheets that keep your towels fresh and static free also repel bugs?

Dryer Sheets as Bug Repellant?

Testing the myth

Long-tailed Macaque

The World’s Worst Invasive Mammals

Animals as common as goats, deer, rabbits or mice can have a devastating effect on other wildlife

Polar Bear at Cape Churchill (Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada)

It’s Not Too Late to Save the Polar Bear

In 2007, scientists from the USGS said that if humans didn’t cut greenhouse gas emissions, two-thirds of the world’s polar bears could be gone by 2050

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Bird Sets Up Protection Racket to Ensure Meals

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Honey Badgers Are Real

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Ecocenter: The Future of Our Oceans

From oil spills to overfishing, human exploitation of the seas has drastically affected the oceans’ coral reefs and wildlife

An illustration of German-born fossil collector Albert Koch's "Hydrarchos" as it appeared on display.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

How Did Whales Evolve?

Originally mistaken for dinosaur fossils, whale bones uncovered in recent years have told us much about the behemoth sea creatures

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Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Drought crises, Florida panthers, humpback whales and more…

The only great ape unique to Asia, orangutans are increasingly rare, with fewer than 50,000 in Borneo. Here, a male named Doyok moves through a reserve.

A Quest to Save the Orangutan

Birute Mary Galdikas has devoted her life to saving the great ape. But the orangutan faces its greatest threat yet

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