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Science / Wildlife

A moose moves through the forest.

How Should Colorado Handle Its Booming Moose Population?

Roughly 3,000 animals now roam the state’s mountain ranges

A variety of plants and animals go through periods where they are dormant or in the dark.

Move Over, Cicadas: These Living Things ‘Go Dark’ For a Long Time, Too

From frogs to orchids, many organisms go dormant or move underground for lengthy stints

The bamboo octocoral Isidella sp. displaying bioluminescence in the Bahamas in 2009.

Glowing Sea Creatures Have Been Lighting Up the Oceans for More Than Half a Billion Years

New research on branching animals known as octocorals pushes the early days of bioluminescence back over 200 million years

A hawksbill sea turtle munches away on a sponge near Juno Beach.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

Journey Under the Sea With 15 Amazing Photos of Marine Life

These Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest images feature the captivating creatures that live beneath the waves

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There's More to That

What Happens When Animals Cross the Road

Our byways are an unnatural incursion into the natural world, especially when they’re allowed to fall into disuse. Meet a roadkill scientist and a journalist tracking how roads mess with nature—and what we can do about it

Visitors left notes, photos and mementos at the base of an oak tree Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl had favored after escaping from the Central Park Zoo. A memorial for Flaco was held there on March 3.

What Flaco the Owl’s Death Teaches Us About Making Cities Safer for Birds

Ornithologists and conservationists say humans can take key steps to make urban environments less hazardous for our avian friends

A beetle collection used for scientific study

Why Do So Many Beetle Species Exist?

Diet played a key role in the evolution of the vast beetle family tree

Sea otters float amid a forest of kelp off California’s Central Coast.

Sea Otters Have Helped Bolster California’s Kelp Forest

A study that looks back more than 100 years shows that where the animals have thrived, underwater forests have, too

Wide-ranging anecdotal reports and studies suggest many animals respond to a total solar eclipse, whether by showing anxiety, performing nighttime behaviors or doing something unexpected.

How Do Animals React to a Total Solar Eclipse? Scientists Document Strange and Surprising Behaviors

Nature enthusiasts work with researchers to figure out how creatures respond to the celestial phenomenon

Sir David Attenborough

How David Attenborough Went From Delighting at the Natural World to Pleading for Its Future

The environmental icon’s latest series, “Mammals,” showcases the threats humanity has created for our relatives

Researchers hold a male red-cockaded woodpecker in Florida’s Osceola National Forest, making sure his tracking bands are correctly in place.

Endangered Woodpeckers Find a New Home on a Military Training Ground

The red-cockaded woodpecker has lost nearly all of its habitat in the southeastern United States, but an Air Force range in Florida is part of an emerging initiative to relocate besieged species on protected land

Imagine dragons—or go for a dive in the Pacific Ocean and keep an eye out for this astonishing two-inch sea slug known as Goniobranchus sp. 1.

Dive Into the Exotic World of Nudibranchs, the Spectacular Slugs of the Sea

Psychedelic hedgehogs, purple pineapples, living strawberries—these tiny creatures show off their big personalities off the Australian coast

A straw-headed bulbul 

How Singapore Became an Unexpected Stronghold for a Critically Endangered Bird

Despite being the smallest country in Southeast Asia, the city-state is now home to the largest population of the straw-headed bulbul

Sun bears are named for a gold crescent on their chest, resembling a rising or setting sun. Each bear’s patch is unique, like a fingerprint.

To Save Sun Bears, Scientists First Have to Find Them

The world’s smallest bear plays a crucial role in repairing its tropical habitat in Southeast Asia

A scarlet macaw

14 Fun Facts About Parrots: They Can Sing, Use Tools and Live a Long, Long Time

And one species can even weigh as much as a house cat

Why aren't there freshwater seals or dolphins in the Great Lakes?

Why Aren’t Dolphins in the Great Lakes? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

An elephant seal pup on South Georgia Island

Why Did Seals and Sea Lions Never Commit to a Life Fully at Sea?

While whales moved from living on land to an existence immersed in water, pinnipeds embraced an amphibious lifestyle

The otherworldly form of the octopus has inspired millennia of fear and awe from humans.

Ten Wild Facts About Octopuses: They Have Three Hearts, Big Brains and Blue Blood

These bizarre creatures have been around for hundreds of millions of years, and for humans, they’ve inspired horror, admiration and culinary prestige

ArTreeficial is a solar-powered, self-cleaning, artificial-intelligence-driven “tree” that entices the spotted lanternfly and eliminates the bug using an electronic mesh.

This High Schooler Invented an A.I.-Powered Trap That Zaps Invasive Lanternflies

Using solar power, machine learning and her family’s patio umbrella, 18-year-old Selina Zhang created a synthetic tree that lures the destructive species

A silver-washed fritillary butterfly rests on a flower as the sun rises, casting a warm glow on both lifeforms.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

See Incredible Insects Up Close With These Creepy-Crawly Photos

Bug out with 15 shots of insects and arachnids of all shapes and sizes from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

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