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

Want to know what a sand tiger shark has been eating? Look to its teeth.

What Centuries-Old Shark Teeth Reveal About Brazil’s Ocean

Researchers examined the remnants of a 13th-century fishing site to get a picture of how the marine ecosystem has changed

Could we use volcanic energy as a power source?

Could Volcanoes Power Our Planet? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

To construct her sculptures, artist Phaan Howng used 3-D prints of plants in the Smithsonian Gardens collection, then mounted them onto a steel armature and base. They were then modified and finished with resin, resin foam, foam air dry clay, EVA foam and acrylic paint.

Fantastical Art Joins Hundreds of Blooming Orchids to Shed Light on Conservation Efforts

Smithsonian Gardens’ 28th annual orchid exhibition is underway at the Kogod Courtyard

Delias sambawana, a butterfly that hails from Indonesia, at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Where Did Butterflies Come From? This Scientist Is On the Case

Akito Kawahara has spent his life devoted to lepidoptera. Now he’s correcting the record on where they first evolved

A logging road in Montana’s Lolo National Forest. America’s woodlands are carved up by obsolete roads that fragment wildlife habitat and degrade fragile ecosystems. Now ecologists are calling in bulldozers to rip them up.

Planet Positive

The Case for Destroying Old Forest Roads

Can demolishing abandoned dirt paths point the way to a more sustainable future?

A mother humpback whale and calf are seen off the coast of Brazil.

Earth’s Migratory Animals Are in Peril, According to U.N. Report

The Convention on Migratory Species warns that many birds, mammals and fish face numerous threats, but they can be saved

A dugong, also known as a sea cow, in a protected marine reserve in the Philippines. On the mammal’s underside, remora fish snack on parasites—and dugong poop.

The Dugong, a Huggable, Seagrass-Loving Sea Cow, Has a New Best Friend: Drones

Keeping tabs on the species’ populations is surprisingly hard. A new aerial effort tracks the marks they leave behind

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