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Science / Wildlife

Deep Earth creepy crawlies, mushrooms making rain, and a Maya city buried in ash are just a few highlights from this year's collection of science stories.

Cool Science Stories You May Have Missed in 2015

Quantum spookiness, a Maya city buried in ash and more in this year’s surprising science

The Verreaux's sifaka is one of the unique mammals found only on Madagascar.

Tiny Fossils Reveal the Rise of Mammals on Madagascar

Recent finds are helping paleontologists piece together what happened after dinosaurs vanished from the island

Dogs, like humans, use mimicry to enhance social bonds.

New Research

Dogs Mimic Each Other’s Expressions, Too

The behavioral findings hint that dogs, like humans, might be capable of their own form of empathy

A female medium ground finch, one of at least 14 species of Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

Age of Humans

Charles Darwin’s Famous Finches Could Be Extinct in Half a Century

The finches on the Galapagos Islands are suffering from a parasitic fly introduced to the islands by humans

Divers approach a bull shark in the water off Mauritius. Though environmental conditions are much the same in Mauritius and neighboring La Réunion, the latter is one of the most dangerous shark-attack spots in the world.

Age of Humans

Why Is This Indian Ocean Island a Hot Spot for Shark Attacks?

La Réunion has seen way more attacks than its neighbor Mauritius, and scientists are struggling to figure out why

None

For the First Time Ever, a Rehabilitated Tiger Has Birthed Cubs in the Wild

In an update from our February cover story, Zolushka found a mate in Siberia and now has two baby tiger cubs

An illustration shows what Shonisaurus popularis might have looked like in the late Triassic.

What Killed These Marine Reptiles Found in a Nevada Ghost Town?

Paleontologists are going high tech to solve the mystery of a mass ichthyosaur death near the old mining town of Berlin

A forest elephant takes an unintentional selfie in a camera-trap photo snapped in South Sudan.

Rare Forest Elephants Seen for the First Time in South Sudan

A recent camera trap survey also spied a wealth of other species thriving in remote forests despite the young country’s civil unrest

The IVF pups were more than 30 years in the making.

New Research

These Baby Beagles Are the First Dogs Born by In Vitro Fertilization

After more than 30 years, scientists have figured out how to create healthy puppies in the lab

Lake Titicaca in myth is the birthplace of humanity, and the people who live on its shores depend on it for their livelihoods.

Age of Humans

What Are North American Trout Doing in Lake Titicaca?

The famous lake between Bolivia and Peru is struggling due to pollution, overfishing and the misguided intentions of almost 100 years ago

A German cockroach in a moment of solitude.

New Research

The Scent of Their Own Poop Entices Cockroaches to Congregate

Gut microbes imbue German cockroach feces with scents that allow them to find kindred groups

A floating platform in Skadar Lake entices pelicans to build their nests here, protecting them from floods.

Age of Humans

How Floating Nests May Save One of the World’s Largest Water Birds

Designed to withstand floods, the rafts are helping the Dalmatian pelican make a comeback in Montenegro and Albania

Ask Smithsonian

Ask Smithsonian: How Do Spiders Make Their Webs?

Learning exactly what those spinnerets are doing might just generate a whole new web of understanding

Impalas and baboons take a snack break under a sausage tree.

New Research

Impalas Hang Out With Baboons for Sausage Fruits and Safety

Forget Timon and Pumbaa: In the African savannah, the best friends around may be impalas and baboons

Thick-billed murres gathering on Coats Island in the Canadian Arctic. New research is finding that these and other birds are bringing ocean pollution back onto land; the birds eat contaminated fish and poop out the chemicals.

Age of Humans

Seabirds Are Dumping Pollution-Laden Poop Back on Land

Chemicals we’ve poured into the ocean are coming back to sting us thanks to seabirds defecating in their onshore colonies

These vicuñas are awaiting a haircut at Pulario in Bolivia.

Poaching Upsurge Threatens South America’s Iconic Vicuña

Brought back from the brink of extinction, the llama-like animals have attracted the attention of poachers eager to turn a profit from their prized wool

A holiday postcard from 1908.

Your Thanksgiving Turkey Is a Quintessentially American Bird: An Immigrant

The turkeys common on U.S. tables descended from a Mexican species and were originally bred for Maya rituals

Say hello to the tardigrade, an extreme gene machine.

New Research

Water Bears Are the Master DNA Thieves of the Animal World

Foreign genes from bacteria, fungi and plants may have bestowed these animals with their ability to tolerate boiling, freezing and the vacuum of space

Army ants really know how to take the road less travelled.

New Research

Army Ants Act Like Algorithms to Make Deliveries More Efficient

The marauding ants know just where to place living bridges to create shortcuts without sacrificing their food-gathering prowess

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