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Science / Wildlife

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Ants Defend Trees from Elephants

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Rare Copy of Audubon’s Birds of America for Sale

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Wildebeest Migration Threatened

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Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Orchids, Baboons, Ancient Reptiles and More…

Since 1977, Tetsuro Matsuzawa has been studying a chimpanzee named Ai. Her mind, he says, can help us understand our own.

Thinking Like a Chimpanzee

Tetsuro Matsuzawa has spent 30 years studying our closest primate relative to better understand the human mind

James T. Tanner's photographs of the ivory-billed woodpecker with guide J.J. Kuhn were believed to be the only pictures of a living nestling.

A Close Encounter With the Rarest Bird

Newfound negatives provide fresh views of the young ivory-billed woodpecker

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The Mimic Octopus

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Toads Closer to Tanzanian Home

Catnip’s Effect on Big (and Little) Cats

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What Monkeynomics Can Tell Us About Us

The silver spotted skipper butterfly is one of the most common butterflies caught during the census.

Name That Butterfly

Citizen scientists on a sharp learning curve are carrying out an important census in fields and gardens across the country

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A Cat-Like Crocodile from the Cretaceous

The Australian Dragonfish

Weird Creatures From the Deep

A massive census of the oceans has turned up a trove of strange marine wildlife, from jellyfish to octopuses to anemones

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Smithsonian Implements Sticky Solution to Aid Energy Conservation

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Extreme Jellyfish

There are some 2,000 species of jellyfish. Some are tasty, others will kill you with the tap of a tentacle. Here are nine varieties that really stand out

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Five Species Likely to Become Extinct in the Next 40 Years

Experts estimate that one-eighth of all bird species, one-fifth of mammal species and one-third of amphibian species are at risk

Common Thresher Shark

Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Cobras, sharks, lemurs, hermit crabs and more…

The discovery of new species is driven by new technologies, targeted surveys of little-studied ecosystems and a determined effort to identify plants and animals before their habitat is lost. The kipunji is one of 300 mammal species discovered in the past decade; it is thought to be Africa’s rarest monkey.

Meet the New Species

From old-world primates to patch-nosed salamanders, new creatures are being discovered every day

Nancy Knowlton is a marine biologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and a leading authority on coral reefs.

By the Numbers: A Marine Advisory

Scientists say the outlook for the world’s oceans is bleak—unless we stop overfishing and reduce air and water pollution

Jellyfish such as these Northeast Pacific sea nettles in Monterey Bay Aquarium, are brainless, bloodless and mostly aimless.

Jellyfish: The Next King of the Sea

As the world’s oceans are degraded, will they be dominated by jellyfish?

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