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Science / Wildlife

As the Planet Warms, What Happens to the Reindeer?

Ecologists are racing across the ice to find out how climate change will affect the Arctic natives

Beautiful and Eerie Photographs of Starlings in Flight

Photographer Richard Barnes captures the mesmerizing geometric patterns created by flocks of European starlings

New Research

Your Dog Can Tell From Your Voice If You’re Happy or Sad

New fMRI research shows that dogs’ brains are specially equipped to process human voices, and respond differently based on our emotions

Some dinosaurs, such as the (Caudipteryx zoui) above, had brightly colored feathers. New research suggests that modern birds inherited their own color varieties from their feathered dinosaur ancestors.

Colorful Plumage Began With Feathered Dinosaurs

The pigment patterns scientists use to predict ancient animal colors started with feathered dinosaurs and led to vibrant color in birds

A mother right whale and her calf.

New Research

Satellites Spot Whales From Space

This new method could help researchers remotely count and keep track of whale populations

Bombus flavifrons worker visiting a columbine in Grant Teton National Park

Bumblebees Can Fly Into Thin Air

Once thought to be unimpressive fliers, bumblebees may be able to summit Mount Everest, new research suggests

Super Bowl

14 Fun Facts About Broncos

Number six: Horses once had three toes

An osprey, commonly called a sea hawk.

Super Bowl

14 Fun Facts About Sea Hawks

Number one: There’s no such thing as a “seahawk”

Barro Colorado Island, on the Panama Canal, is home to at least 74 bat species. A group of German researchers is studying them all to understand the spread of diseases.

A Night in the Forest Capturing Bats

Our intrepid reporter joins tropical bat researchers in the field one night and gains some appreciation for their fangs

Hugh, a manatee, undergoes training at Mote Marine Laboratory, learning to touch his nose to a plastic target.

A New Paradigm for Animal Research: Let Them Participate

In labs around the country, researchers are realizing that in many cases, it’s easier to work with animals than against them

A fringe-lipped bat bits into a túngara frog.

New Research

Crazy Stupid Love: The Frog With a Mating Call That Also Attracts Predators

The sound and water ripples produced by the túngara frog’s mating call are picked up by predatory bats

Whitespotted greenling (Hexagrammos stelleri)

Art Meets Science

The True Inner Beauty of Fishes

A biologist and a poet team up for a new exhibition at the Seattle Aquarium that features images of bleached and stained fish skeletons

A three-toed sloth.

New Research

What Drives a Sloth’s Ritualistic Trek to Poop?

Scientists trace the odd bathroom behavior to relationships with bacteria and moths that inhabit their fur

What Can Rodents Tell Us About Why Humans Love?

A relative of the mouse may hold the key to understanding why human beings are one of the few mammals that seek lifelong mates

The Deadly and Devious Golden Eagle

Rare photos of a golden eagle attack illustrate the predator’s legendary hunting techniques

Art Meets Science

The Beautiful Flight Paths of Fireflies

Flirting lightning bugs illuminate a dark forest with golden flight during mating season

An elephant seal from the Kerguelen islands with a logger device attached to his head, just before his departure back to sea.

Seals Are Scientists’ Little Helpers for Collecting Ocean Data

For the past 10 years, hundreds of seals equipped with special headgear have collected crucial data on ocean temperature and salinity for scientists

This hive of the stingless honey-making bee Melipona triplaridis is one of a handful of tropical hives bee expert David Roubik keeps at his home in Panama City. Note the waffle-like honeycomb in the background

Smithsonian’s Bee Man Delivers Up Some Advice for Dealing with Colony Collapse Disorder

David Roubik, who pioneered the field of tropical bee studies, says what will save them is a better understanding of their natural state

Northern bald ibises in a classic flying "V" formation.

Scientists Solve Mystery of Birds’ Flying V

Migrating birds flap in and out of rhythm depending on where they are in formation

A dingo walks along a road in southern Australia.

Maybe Dingoes Don’t Deserve Their Bad Rap

Studies show that Australia’s “favorite scapegoat” most likely didn’t kill the Tasmanian tiger

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