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Animals

Predatory dinosaurs like Acrocanthosaurus perform a mating dance. Fossils indicating such a dance took place, possibly by this species, were described in 2016.

From Dinosaur Scratches to Insects in Amber, How Paleontologists Uncover Prehistoric Courtship

Researchers have found fossil evidence of varied creatures wooing and mating, as they continue to search for the telltale signs of dinosaurs copulating

Banksy's Piranhas will move into storage ahead of its 2026 debut at the London Museum's new location.

Banksy Transformed This Police Box Into a Piranha Tank. Soon, the Artwork Will Go on Permanent Display in London

The piece was part of the anonymous artist’s animal series that appeared around the city last summer. In 2026, it will make its debut at the London Museum

An artist's reconstruction of what Spicomellus afer would have looked like.

Oldest Known Fossil of an Armored Ankylosaur Is ‘Far Weirder’ Than Paleontologists Expected

The 13-foot dinosaur, covered in long spikes fused into its bones, suggests ankylosaurs developed tail weapons 30 million years earlier than thought

The sailback houndshark was first described as a new genus and species in 1973.

Elusive Sailback Houndshark Rediscovered in Papua New Guinea After 50 Years

The creatures are occasionally caught by local fishermen but hadn’t been scientifically recorded since the 1970s

Aside from his bright blue shell, Neptune is an otherwise normal lobster.

See the Rare ‘Electric Blue’ Lobster Found Off the Coast of Massachusetts

Meet Neptune, an American lobster with a vibrantly colored shell that results from a genetic mutation affecting pigmentation

Greater flamingos are abundant in the Camargue, a coastal region in southern France.

Migratory Flamingos Age Differently From Resident Ones, Offering a New Clue About Getting Old

A new study of the pink birds in France finds that aging sets in later for flamingos that migrate, though they face higher mortality in early adulthood

Researchers have developed a new, artificial supplement that can deliver crucial nutrients known as sterols to honeybee colonies and promote survival of larvae.

Researchers Develop a ‘Superfood’ for Honeybees to Fight the Drastic Decline of Their Colonies

Bees fed an enriched yeast supplement saw 15 times more of their larvae reach the developmental stage right before adulthood, according to a new study

Strongheart “was kind of a Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger [type] action hero,” says film studies scholar Kathryn Fuller-Seeley. 

Strongheart the German Shepherd Catapulted to Fame for His Heroics in Silent Films. Later, Spiritualist Writings Immortalized Him in Death

The beloved dog starred in six movies during the Roaring Twenties. After Strongheart died in 1929, author J. Allen Boone chronicled their enduring connection in a pair of nonfiction books

Stonehenge at sunset. Construction of the iconic stone circle began around 3000 B.C.E. and continued in several phases.

A Neolithic Cow’s Tooth Helps Point to the Mysterious Origins of Stonehenge’s Iconic Stones

Isotope analysis of a molar from a cow’s jawbone found buried at the monument provides details of the life story of the animal—and how it may relate to the construction of Stonehenge

The only human development on Tetepare is a small research center and ecolodge on the western corner of the island, which is otherwise covered in lush rainforest and lined by coral reefs and meadows of seagrass.

Why Is Tetepare the South Pacific’s Largest Uninhabited Island?

Descendants of the island’s former inhabitants struggle to balance environmental conservation with sustaining their community’s livelihoods

Scientists are eager to figure out why lead doesn't seem to affect brown anoles.

These Lizards Have So Much Lead in Their Blood, They Should Be Dead. Instead, They’re Thriving

Brown anoles around New Orleans have the highest blood concentrations of lead ever recorded in vertebrates—and scientists aren’t sure why they can survive it

The American robin was among the birds most affected by light pollution.

Light Pollution Is Making Days Longer for Birds, Extending the Hours When They’ll Sing

A new study looked at millions of recordings of birdsong and found that some species in areas with more light pollution are active for almost an hour longer than average

In some countries, it’s not uncommon to bring cows and other farm animals into the house with humans for the winter. It protects them from the chill and adds a source of heat to the home in frigid months.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

Get a Glimpse of Farm Life All Around the World

These 15 images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest will grow on you

Researchers often observed a family of bats roosting together in tight "cuddle balls."

These Big, Meat-Eating Bats Also Have a Cuddly Side. Rare Videos Reveal ‘Hugging,’ Playing and Sharing Food

Scientists observed a family of four spectral bats in their roost in a tree in Costa Rica, capturing an inside look at their social behavior

Cattle graze at the Cotoni-Coast Dairies national monument under federal leases.

Cows, Hikers and Mountain Bikers Coexist at This National Monument, With Help From New Technology

Established in 2017, the Cotoni-Coast Dairies national monument in California is now open to the public

Mexican tetras lost their eyes in multiple ways.

These Cavefish Lost Their Eyes, but They Gained Some Pretty Nifty Traits

Mexican tetras that got swept into pitch-black caverns had no use for the energetically costly organs

The partial dire wolf skull was found in Iowa.

A Partial Dire Wolf Skull Is Headed to Auction This Month—and It Could Sell for $30,000

Collectors have a rare opportunity to bid on the remains of the fearsome creature, a large canid that went extinct around the end of the last ice age

Scientists find that streaked shearwaters poop every four to ten minutes in flight—a strict schedule that doesn't apply when they're sitting on the water's surface.

Video Footage Accidentally Reveals the Strange Pooping Behavior of These Large Seabirds

Researchers set out to investigate how streaked shearwaters take off and instead were surprised to discover that the birds poop very frequently and regularly, which could play a role in marine ecology

Early whales walked on land and swam in the shallows to hunt.

Before Whales Took to the Sea, These Ten Species Walked on Land

The creatures, which ranged in size from that of a fox to more than 50 feet long, divided their time between the coast and the water

A bottlenose dolphin is seen "bow riding," or swimming just in front of a humpback whale, potentially getting a boost from the wave created by the larger mammal.

Whales and Dolphins Interact More Often Than Scientists Thought, Engaging in Mutual Play, Study Suggests

Researchers analyzed nearly 200 videos and photographs documenting interactions between the various kinds of cetaceans

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