Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Animals

Close-up of a wildebeest, also called gnus or wildebai, in the grasslands of the Masai Mara in Kenya, August 2018.

Twelve Epic Migratory Journeys Animals Take Every Spring

As temperatures rise and foliage blooms in the north, creatures from insects to whales set out for long treks across the planet

New Research

Scientists Revived Cells in Dead Pig Brains

The accomplishment challenges how we ethically, legally and philosophically define death

Over the past month, scientists have made more than 20 unsuccessful attempts to extract viable cells from the foal's tissue

Cool Finds

Scientists Extracted Liquid Blood From 42,000-Year-Old Foal Found in Siberian Permafrost

The team hopes to grow viable cells out of the foal’s tissue, paving the way for further experimentation aimed at cloning the extinct horse

The team's findings support the theory that agriculture emerged in multiple places simultaneously

Ancient Urine Reveals Timeline of Turkey’s Agricultural Revolution

Researchers studied urine salt deposits to map out the history of animal domestication at Turkey’s Aşıklı Höyük settlement

Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) provides the public with an extensive selection of birds as part of its collection of items that are available for circulation.

This Library in Anchorage Lends Out Taxidermic Specimens

All you need to check out a snowy owl or a mounted rockfish is a library card

Trending Today

Watch Live as a Rare Bald Eagle ‘Throuple’ Raises Their New Trio of Chicks

Starr, Valor I and Valor II are taking care of three eaglets seven years after their dramatic story began

Experts believe the Neolithic dog is the first canine to undergo forensic facial reconstruction

Thanks to Facial Reconstruction, You Can Now Look Into the Eyes of a Neolithic Dog

The collie-sized canine was buried in a cavernous tomb on Scotland’s Orkney Islands around 2,500 B.C.

The sizable specimen was carrying 73 developing eggs at the time of her capture

Cool Finds

Record-Breaking 17-Foot-Long Burmese Python Found in Florida

The 140-pound snake is the largest ever captured in the Florida Everglades’ Big Cypress National Preserve

Pools where 11 orcas and 90 belugas—all caught illegally—were kept, in Srednyaya Bay near the city of Nakhodka in Russia's Far East, according to Getty. The whale were going to be sold to Chinese amusement parks.

Russia Will Free 97 Orcas, Belugas Held in Cramped ‘Whale Jail’ Since Last Summer

Authorities and international scientists have signed an agreement pledging to release the whales “back into their natural environment”

Skippy, the author's cat, is generally an attentive listener.

Cats May Recognize Their Own Names—but It Doesn’t Mean They Care

In a study of 78 kitties, researchers concluded our feline friends can differentiate their names out of a series of random words

The squirrels measure up to 36 inches from head to tail

Yes, Giant Technicolor Squirrels Actually Roam the Forests of Southern India

The colorful creatures can measure up to three feet long from head to tail and weigh in at around four pounds

As a person with autism, Grandin is deeply familiar with the anxiety of being in an unfamiliar environment. She has used her uncommon insight into the experience of livestock to invent a number of systems for improving livestock handling.

Temple Grandin’s Pig-Stunning System Came to Her in a Vision

Patented 20 years ago, the invention never took off. But the renowned animal science professor still thinks its time may come

This is why we can't have nice things.

Trending Today

Indonesia Considers Closing Komodo Island Because Poachers Keep Stealing the Dragons

Komodo National Park may put the island off limits to restore degraded habitat and help its iconic giant lizards and their prey recover

Researchers analyzed blood samples taken from 43 great white sharks captured and released off of the South African coast in 2012

Great White Sharks Thrive Despite Heavy Metals Coursing Through Their Veins

The apex predators likely absorb these toxins by eating fish lower down on the food chain

New Research

Over 150 Years of Data Sheds Light on Today’s Illegal Tortoiseshell Trade

The analysis, which goes back to 1844, shows why the decline of the hawksbill sea turtle isn’t just a modern problem

Researcher Jack Ashby initially suspected a crow was responsible for the toad's skinning, but after examining the photo, he concluded that an otter was the more likely culprit

Why Otters Disembowel Toads Before Eating Them

The unfortunate amphibian likely fell victim to an otter, which skinned it to avoid ingesting the deadly toxins found in its glands

The Toad mountain harlequin frog is one of more than 500 species endangered by the fungal outbreak

World’s Deadliest Pathogen On Record Devastates More Than 500 Amphibian Species—and We Don’t Know How To Stop It

The powerful fungus essentially ‘eats’ its victim’s skin alive, weakening the system before triggering cardiac arrest

A Florida manatee winters in the warm waters of Crystal River.

American South

There’s Only One Place in the United States Where It’s Legal to Swim With Wild Manatees

In Citrus County, Florida, hundreds of the gentle giants winter in the warm waters of Crystal River

Mini mum fits comfortably on a human's thumbnail

Meet ‘Mini mum,’ ‘Mini scule’ and ‘Mini ature,’ Three New Frog Species Among the World’s Smallest

The newly discovered amphibians are all about the size of a thumbnail or smaller

Scotty’s skeleton is scheduled to go on view at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in May 2019

Cool Finds

Meet Scotty, the Largest and Longest-Lived T. Rex Ever Found

The dinosaur weighed an estimated 19,555 pounds and likely lived into its early 30s

Page 123 of 232