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Animals

Elderly Polar Bear Spars With Young Males

Polar bears will spar relentlessly with each other whenever they meet in summer. It’s friendly and sociable, but also a good way to establish hierarchy

"Panama's Animal Highway" premiers on the Smithsonian Channel, December 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

New Documentary Delights With Spectacular Visuals of the Panama Isthmus, A Migratory Superhighway

Scientists from all over the world come to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center to study this unique region

To find the roots of an unlikely connection, researchers are untangling lemur microbiomes. Here, ring-tailed lemurs feast at Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, Germany.

New Research

What Lemur Guts Can Tell Us About Human Bowel Disease

Similarities between us and the cuddly primates could help us understand the origins of human illnesses—and treat them

Scientists Go on a Mission to Save Sea Turtles

Over the past half century, Leatherback turtle numbers have suffered a disastrous decline of almost 70%

Why Panama’s Urban Development Is a Threat to Animals

The Isthmus of Panama has witnessed some of the greatest movement of animal species in history. Today, rapid urbanization has accelerated deforestation

Jane Goodall reaches out to touch hands with Flint, the first infant born at Gombe after her arrival.

New Jane Goodall Documentary Is Most Intimate Portrait Yet, Says Jane Goodall

The famed chimp researcher didn’t want yet another documentary made about her. Jane changed her mind

Ask Smithsonian

Do Other Animals Cry and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

While highly social and cooperative among themselves, dwarf mongooses take a while to warm up to newcomers.

New Research

For Immigrant Mongooses, It Can Take Time to Earn Society’s Trust

In some species, however, deporting your own family members is the norm

New Research

Your Oldest Ancestor Was Probably Sponge Like

A new study may settle a long-running debate about which creature was the first to evolve from a universal common animal ancestor

The Amur leopard twins Akeno, left, and Zivon, right, are being baptized at the zoo in Leipzig, Germany, Thursday, July 6, 2017. The twin animals were born on 22 April.

Rare Amur Leopard Call Gets Caught on Tape

New footage of the cat making its distinctive roar offers a glimpse into the endangered species’ behavior

The face of a dreamer.

Winston Churchill Imagined the Lab-Grown Hamburger

But he was off about the year when it would be created

Transient killer whales, hunters extraordinaire, cruise by a sea lion haulout in the northeast Pacific.

A Tale of Two Killer Whales

Orca whales actually comprise two distinct types—and one may soon be destined to rise above the other

Simply by pooping, the once-endangered cape zebra helps researchers measure its health and well-being.

New Research

How Stressed Out Are Zebras? Just Ask Their Poop

Scientists are scooping up the pungent piles of data to measure the health of once-endangered ungulates

The Ten Best Photography Books of 2017

These eye-opening works invite us to find ourselves in history and nature

"Perhaps you'd be interested if I had a sponge?"

New Research

Male Humpback Dolphins Woo Mates By Presenting Sponges as Gifts

They also use “wingmen” and occasionally sport the sponges as hats—but researchers aren’t sure just how much game they really have

Cool Finds

Skeleton of a Massive Extinct Sea Cow Found on Siberian Island

Remains of the Steller’s sea cow shed light on one of the first animals that taught humans about extinction

Lawsuit Seeks “Personhood” for Three Connecticut Elephants

An animal advocacy group has filed a petition requesting that the elephants be removed from a traveling zoo

This Lion Couple Mates Over 100 Times a Day

A newly coupled lion and lioness head to the relative solitude of the higher grounds in their new kingdom of Rwanda

Researchers estimate that the cub was between one-and-a-half to two months old when it perished up to 50,000 years ago

Cool Finds

Russian Local Discovers Frozen Remains of Extinct Cave Lion Cub

The lion died up to 50,000 years ago, but was found perfectly preserved in the frosty ground

An artist's rendering of an asteroid striking Earth.

New Research

Dinosaurs Might Be Alive Today If the Asteroid Had Hit Another Location

Only a fraction of the Earth’s surface contained the right amount of hydrocarbons to trigger the mass extinction, a new study says

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