Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Science / Wildlife

An artist’s reconstruction of Ignacius dawsonae surviving in the warm but dark forests of Ellesmere Island

Primate-Like Critters Survived in the Arctic When It Was a Lush, Warm Swamp

Even as darkness gripped the forests for months, two small species made it home

About 100 miles northwest of Mexico City in the UNESCO-designated Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, up to a billion of the brilliant-winged insects spend November to March clustered on branches.

A Ring of Fire, Millions of Monarchs and Other Rare Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling For

Be in the right place at the right time to witness these sublime sights

Red junglefowl, ancestors of wild chickens, are known to mix with domestic birds.

The Wonderful World of Birds

Why Chickens Need to Stop Breeding With Their Wild Cousins

The red junglefowl is losing important genetic diversity in its native Asian habitat

Researchers are using novel technologies to study polar bears, which live in the rapidly warming Arctic.

Five Revolutionary Technologies Helping Scientists Study Polar Bears

As climate change threatens the charismatic creatures, scientists are embracing innovations to help them understand and protect the bears

A captive-bred male lion at Warthog Safaris in Limpopo, South Africa. The breeding facility is one of an estimated 260 in the country.

Is It Ethical to Hunt Captive Lions?

In South Africa, the big cats are raised to be killed by hunters. Opponents are outraged, but advocates point to conservation benefits

Copepods at various life stages teem inside a water droplet. The creatures go through six larval and six juvenile stages between egg and adulthood. They grow a new pair of legs at each stage.

These Gorgeous Photos Capture Life Inside a Drop of Seawater

A passion for the infinitesimal leads a photographer to discover the countless creatures that live unseen in the ocean

The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit relies on sagebrush for food and shelter, but the shrub has nearly disappeared. It's also slow to regrow: it takes about two decades, or ten pygmy rabbit lifetimes.

Planet Positive

Can Scientists Save the World’s Tiniest Rabbit?

In Washington State, the race is on to save a diminutive bunny as wildfires threaten its already shrinking habitat

After the American Revolution, why did the colonies keep their British nobility namesakes?

Why Did the American Colonies Keep Their British Names After the Revolution?

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

An impala runs away from a cheetah.

How the Brain Calculates a Quick Escape

Scientists are beginning to unravel the complex circuitry behind the split-second decision to beat a hasty retreat

Scientists believe that at several times in Earth’s history the planet was covered by ice.

How Animals May Have Conquered Snowball Earth

We know there were animals during our planet’s chilliest era. But what did they look like?

Innovators may want to create soft robots that more accurately replicate the dynamics of an elephant’s trunk.

Seven Scientific Discoveries From 2022 That May Lead to New Inventions

Nature is a breeding ground for innovative solutions to everything from aging to plastic pollution

The government in Queensland, Australia, is testing whether drones can be used to detect sharks near beaches.

Drones Spot Sharks That Wander Too Close to Busy Beaches

Ongoing tests show that the technology is an effective way to track the animals and monitor for threats

Pure Structural Color is made of several extremely thin sheets of non-conductive material. These layers are stacked together and imprinted, or stamped, with a nano-scale pattern of rods with curved ends. This pattern scatters light into colors that are visible from all directions, and different hues can be produced by changing the dimensions of the pattern.

Art Meets Science

This British Zoologist Wants to Reinvent Color

Andrew Parker has produced some of the brightest hues in the world. So, what’s his secret?

For several decades, flocks of lesser and greater flamingos have returned to a sliver of wetlands on the shoreline of Mumbai, India, increasing the population 13-fold. Their arrival has been a source of pride for local people, but development pressures are threatening the habitat of these feathered residents.

Mumbai Is Embracing the 100,000 Flamingos That Winter on Its Coast

The birds and their habitat are threatened by development, but efforts to protect them are gaining traction

A reconstruction of adult and newly born Triassic ichthyosaurs Shonisaurus

Paleontologists May Have Solved the Mystery Behind a Prehistoric Reptile Graveyard

Ichthyosaur mothers likely migrated to the site to give birth

A beaver relaxes in water in Anchorage, Alaska. `

As the Arctic Warms, Beavers Move In

Scientists are beginning to study the impacts of beaver dams on the tundra

Humans have come up with a number of wacky methods to keep animals deemed "vermin" in check.

Seven of the Wildest and Weirdest Attempts to Curb Animal Pests

Why use fences or traps, when you can use deadly viruses or lustful snakes?

This year’s picks include Fresh Banana Leaves, Origin and Starry Messenger.

The Best Books of 2022

The Ten Best Science Books of 2022

From a detective story on the origins of Covid-19 to a narrative that imagines a fateful day for dinosaurs, these works affected us the most this year

Galapagos sharks swim near Maui, Hawaii.

Discovery Channel’s ‘Shark Week’ Is Packed With Misinformation and Junk Science

Scientists watched 202 episodes and found them filled with unreliable information and white male experts named ‘Mike’

Algoa Bay, South Africa, is home to nearly half of the world’s remaining African penguins, whose numbers have fallen as much as 98 percent since 1900.

These Artificial Nests Are Helping African Penguins Beat the Heat

Ceramic nests deployed on penguin colonies in South Africa could shield the endangered seabirds from rising temperatures

Page 20 of 142