Nine Wildlife Stories You Should Have Read This Year

It's been a good year for wildlife stories in Smithsonian magazine. Here are nine you should read if you haven't already:

Geoducks: Happy as Clams: In the Pacific Northwest, fishermen are cashing in on the growing yen for geoducks, a funny-looking mollusk turned worldwide delicacy

What's So Hot About Chili Peppers?: An American ecologist travels through the Bolivian forest to answer burning questions about the spice

In Search of the Mysterious Narwhal: Ballerina turned biologist Kristin Laidre studies the elusive, deep-diving, ice-loving whale known as the "unicorn of the sea"

Finding Feisty Fungi in Antarctica: On treeless Antarctica, wood fungus is feasting on polar exploration relics

The Cahaba: A River of Riches: An unsung Alabama waterway is one of the most biologically diverse places in the nation, home to rare flora and fauna

Return of the Sandpiper: Thanks to the Delaware Bay's horseshoe crabs, the tide may be turning for an imperiled shorebird

Invasion of the Longhorn Beetles: In Worcester, Massachusetts, authorities are battling an invasive insect that is poised to devastate the forests of New England

Wildlife Trafficking: A reporter follows the lucrative, illicit and heartrending trade in stolen wild animals deep into Ecuador's rain forest

Ethiopia's Exotic Monkeys: High in the Simien Mountains, researchers are getting a close-up look at the exotic, socially adventuresome primates known as geladas

What animal, plant or other creature should we investigate in 2010?

Sarah Zielinski | | READ MORE

Sarah Zielinski is an award-winning science writer and editor. She is a contributing writer in science for Smithsonian.com and blogs at Wild Things, which appears on Science News.