Articles tagged as Animals | Smithsonian Magazine

Leprosy Threatens U.K. Red Squirrel Populations

Researchers have launched a new study to try to save the furry rodents

May 10, 2016

A furled chameleon tail obviously takes its shape from the rolling of a tube, but its pattern is distinct from that created by rolling an even tube, such as that of a garden hose. The gentle taper of the tail produces a logarithmic spiral—one that gets smaller, yet the small parts look like the large parts.

A new book explores the physical and chemical reasons behind incredible visual structures in the living and non-living world

May 10, 2016

Sweden wants to ban live American lobsters for fear they will out-claw their own

May 9, 2016

Cute Baby Animals You Have to See This Spring

Check out what’s new at the zoo

May 9, 2016

Atopodentatus used its odd-shaped head to vacuum up food from the sea floor hundreds of millions of years ago.

Weirdo Ancient Marine Reptile Had a Vacuum-Shaped Head

Animal probably slurped up plant material from the seafloor

May 9, 2016

New Research

The Oldest Species May Win in the Race to Survive Climate Change

It’s survival of the fittest, and the oldest may be the fittest, new study says

May 5, 2016

Facing food and water shortages, the country hopes to save it’s wildlife

May 5, 2016

Fowl flu fuels foie gras fears

May 5, 2016

Art Meets Science

These Eerie Portraits Capture Endangered and Extinct Animals in a Film That Is Also Vanishing

Denis Defibaugh uses Polaroid 55 film to give animal specimens an afterlife

May 5, 2016

Warm waters have turned the country’s once-pristine coast into a putrid sight

May 4, 2016

Important information about a cheetah can be found in its feces.

A Fecal Pellet’s Worth A Thousand Words

Scientists can learn a surprising amount about an animal just by analyzing its poop

May 4, 2016

Trending Today

Yellowstone’s Most Famous Bear Is Dead

Who shot “Scarface”?

May 3, 2016

Increased education and a law enforcement crackdown has helped the tiny nation keep its rhinos safe for 730 days in a row

May 2, 2016

Cool Finds

Deep-Sea Researchers Spot a Mysterious Jellyfish Near The Mariana Trench

The glowing jellyfish was previously unknown to science

May 2, 2016

The Kenyan government burned tusks from over 6,000 elephants to reduce stockpiles of ivory and raise awareness of poaching

May 2, 2016

"Science fiction is so important to our culture, because it allows us to dream," said Jim Green, director of NASA's planetary science division, at the "Future is Here" festival.

Future Is Here Festival

The Future Is Here Festival Considers Extraterrestrial Life and the Essence of Humanity

In the festival’s final day, speakers turn to the cosmos and our place within it

April 26, 2016

New Research

21 Million Years Ago, Monkeys May Have Floated to North America on Rafts

Fossil teeth in Panama show monkeys made it to Central America, probably on floating mats of vegetation

April 21, 2016

Melani, a 15-year-old Sumatran tiger, was rescued from the Surabaya Zoo in 2013 after becoming ill due to tainted meat. However, she died the year later. Rama, another Sumatran tiger at the zoo, died this week of heart failure.

Will Rama the tiger’s demise prompt action at a zoo known for its filthy, overcrowded conditions?

April 21, 2016

A giant mouse feeds on a dead seabird chick.

A Steady Diet of Seabird Chicks Makes Island Mice Huge

With no predators or competition, rodents can eat baby birds alive

April 18, 2016

New Research

Scientists Catalog Creatures in Every Corner of Los Angeles

In a huge citizen science project, scientists are turning to an urban environment to seek out biodiversity

April 18, 2016