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Science / Wildlife

The handbones seen in the whale model in the center of this image tell the curious story of how whales went from land to water.

Ask Smithsonian

What’s a “Missing Link”?

While some still use the term, experts abhor it because it implies that life is a linear hierarchy

A large female Greenland shark observed near the community of Arctic Bay, Nunavut.

New Research

The World’s Most Ancient, Elusive Sharks Were Finally Caught on Video

Greenland sharks, which can live more than 400 years, reveal how little we know about life in the coldest oceans

Kinorhynchs (aka mud dragons) range in size from about 0.13 to one millimeter. Like other meiofauna species, they are integral parts of marine food chains in sediments throughout the world.

King of the Mud Dragons

Robert Higgins has spent his career dredging out tiny creatures from dirt and obscurity

A drone image of a breeding colony of Greater Crested Terns. Researchers used plastic bird decoys to replicate this species in an experiment that compared different ways of counting wildlife.

New Research

When It Comes to Counting Wildlife, Drones Are More Accurate Than People

Technology could be a conservation gamechanger, but we need to interrogate its impact on wildlife

Easter Island is home to at least 142 endemic species, including the Easter Island butterfly fish.

Chile Announces Protections for Massive Swath of Ocean With Three New Marine Parks

The almost 450,000 square miles encompass a stunning diversity of marine life, including hundreds of species found nowhere else

After Audubon's health began to fail, his family completed the project, producing the color plates in installments for about 300 subscribers.

The Fantastic Beasts of John James Audubon’s Little-Known Book on Mammals

The American naturalist spent the last years of his life cataloguing America’s four-legged creatures

When it comes to ancient remains, isotope analysis could help scientists separate dogs from wolves.

New Research

Dogs and Humans Didn’t Become Best Friends Overnight

First, we feared and ate them, a new isotope analysis reveals

Hamsters are nearsighted and colorblind. To find their way through dense fields, they rely on scent trails.

Why Are These Hamsters Cannibalizing Their Young?

Scientists are stalking French cornfields to find out

A British Columbia rainforest, where Douglas firs soar more than 160 feet, supports 23 native tree species.

Ask Smithsonian

Do Trees Talk to Each Other?

A controversial German forester says yes, and his ideas are shaking up the scientific world

A team of researchers in northern Australia have documented kites and falcons, “firehawks,” intentionally carrying burning sticks to spread fire: It is just one example of western science catching up to Indigenous Traditional Knowledge.

When Scientists “Discover” What Indigenous People Have Known For Centuries

When it supports their claims, Western scientists value what Traditional Knowledge has to offer. If not, they dismiss it

Many animals, like this red sphinx cat, are bred to be hairless. Other times, animal baldness is a symptom of stress and other factors.

Ask Smithsonian

Do Other Animals Besides Humans Go Bald?

From Andean bears to Rhesus macaques, non-human mammals have hair woes of their own

White-naped cranes flying above the DMZ.

How Korea’s Demilitarized Zone Became an Accidental Wildlife Paradise

Hundreds of rare animal species take shelter in the 155-mile no man’s land between North and South Korea

The genetics of the little skate changes our understanding of vertebrate evolution, from ocean to land-dweller.

New Research

What a Walking Fish Can Teach Us About Human Evolution

New research on the little skate reveals the genes it shares with land animals—and a common ancestor from 420 million years ago

Snowy owls may be a nice surprise in more Southerly climes, but these charismatic birds are also at risk.

A Winter Boom of Snowy Owls Masks a Host of Climate Threats

Despite their seeming abundance, these far-flung raptors are in danger

The American eel fishery has historically focused on mature eels (as shown here), which are exported around the world. But these days, there’s more money to be made from juveniles.

The Epic Fight Over the Enigmatic Eel

The slippery fish is at the center of a Canadian national debate about economics, conservation and Indigenous rights

Once common along highland streams in Costa Rica and western Panama, the variable harlequin frog, Atelopus varius, is now endangered throughout its range, thanks in large part to a disease caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus.

These Captive-Bred Frogs Are Facing Predators and the Chytrid Fungus to Make It in the Wild

Scientists in Panama release 500 harlequin frogs, some wearing transmitters, in a first attempt to reintroduce the endangered species

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