Brazil

Fires burn in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil on August 31, 2022. 

Wildfires Reached a Five-Year High in the Brazilian Amazon

Rapid deforestation has made the rainforest more vulnerable to flames, experts say

One of the man’s huts

The Last Member of an Uncontacted Tribe in Brazil Has Died

Known as "the Man of the Hole," he lived in isolation for more than two decades

Police recovered the stolen painting Sol Poente, by Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral, during a raid last week.

Using Fake Psychics, Brazilian Woman Allegedly Stole $142 Million Worth of Art

The elaborate scheme targeted her mother, the widow of a prominent art dealer, police say

When access to the interior of the statue is permitted, visitiors will be able to take in the surrounding views from the glass-encased heart at Jesus' chest.

A New Statue of Jesus Is the World's Tallest—for Now

"Christ the Protector" is taller than Rio de Janeiro's most famous monument

Members of the Portela samba school perform during Rio's Carnival parade.

Good News

Carnival Makes a Triumphant Return to Rio de Janeiro

Covid canceled the 2021 festival. Now, the Brazilian city is reclaiming its streets

An illustration of Tetrapodophis, a lizard that was named based on a fossil likely smuggled out of Brazil to Germany

Why Smuggled Fossils Are Hurting Paleontology

Parachute science and lingering colonialism in fossil studies have negatively impacted the discipline

A researcher holds a golden-crowned spadebill in Brazil. Seventy-seven rainforest bird species in the country showed a decrease in body weight over the last four decades.

Climate Change Is Transforming the Bodies of Amazonian Birds

A 40-year study found 77 species of rainforest birds weigh less on average, and many have longer wings, than they used to

For the first time in 16 years, a pair of golden-headed lion tamarins were born on the morning of October 7, 2021. New mom Lola carries the new infants on her back and cradles them close to her body. 

Zoo's Historic Newborn Tamarin Twins Cling to Mom, Doing What Healthy Babies Do

Keepers worked with breeding parents Lola and Coco, who soon “become very interested in each other”

Many videos and photos shares on social media showed areas dusted with up to an inch of snow and trees slicked with thick ice. Pictured: Sao Joaquim Brazil

Rare Snowfall Blankets Cities Across Brazil

Some parts of the country are seeing snow for the first time in decades, and its threatening crop production

Part of a clinical study called Project S, a small town in Brazil set out to vaccinate its entire adult population. With 95% of adults vaccinated, the city has seen a steep decline in Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Mass Vaccination Success in This Small Brazil City Shows Promise of Low-Efficacy Vaccines

In Serrana, 95 percent of adults received the CoronaVac vaccine, which has a 50% efficacy rate. Now, the city is ready to reopen

Red-handed tamarins have greater vocal flexibility, using calls ranging from territorial long calls to chirps to trills to communicate, whereas pied tamarins use long whistle-like calls.

Red-Handed Tamarins Can Mimic Other Species' Accents

The South American primates change their calls to communicate with other tamarin species living in shared territories

Damages wrought by climate change and deforestation have transformed the Amazon rainforest. New research suggests the changes to this icon of the natural world caused by human activity may mean the Amazon now emits more greenhouse gases than it absorbs.

New Research

The Amazon Rainforest Now Emits More Greenhouse Gases Than It Absorbs

Climate change and deforestation have transformed the ecosystem into a net source of planet-warming gases instead of a carbon sink

A dog walks through a favela in Recife, Brazil. Many such poor urban areas in the country are hotbeds for visceral leishmaniasis.

Dogs Infected With a Deadly Human Parasite Smell Better to Insect Vectors

New research suggests female sand flies that pass the protozoa that causes visceral leishmaniasis to humans are attracted to affected canines

Both sides of a shark tooth from Rio do Meio, an artifact which may have been used as a cutting tool. Archaeologists think it was bound to a wooden shaft by cord, strung through the drilled holes.

Why Did Ancient Indigenous Groups in Brazil Hunt Sharks?

New studies show that shark meat may have constituted half of their diet and that the beasts' teeth were used as arrow tips and razor blades

An artist's rendering of Ubirajara jubatus, a newly described dinosaur species featuring two sets of rods sticking out of its shoulders and a mane of fluffy proto-feathers.

New Research

With a Mane and Strange Shoulder Rods, This New Dinosaur Was Quite a 'Little Show-Off'

The chicken-sized carnivore was found in Brazil and researchers say it may have been quite colorful

Arranged in symbolically significant ways with no clear hierarchy, the villages’ circular layouts may reflect their Indigenous inhabitants’ conceptions of the cosmos.

Cool Finds

These Amazonian Villages Were Laid Out Like Clock Faces

Scientists used LiDAR to investigate the ruins of 14th- to 18th-century Indigenous communities in Brazil

More than 580 species of bird, 271 types of fish, 174 mammal species, 131 different reptiles and 57 amphibian species known to inhabit the Pantanal.

Wildlife Suffers as Brazil’s Pantanal Wetland Burns

Fires in the world’s largest tropical wetland have burned an area double that of California’s unprecedented 2020 blazes

The Federal University of Minas Gerais’ Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden houses 260,000 artifacts ranging from fossils to folk art.

Second Brazilian Museum Fire in Two Years Sparks Calls for Reform

Authorities are assessing the damage caused by a June 15 blaze at the Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden in Belo Horizonte

Lightning flashes over Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2014. On October 31, 2018, the longest lightning bolt ever recorded struck in Brazil, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Record-Breaking Lightning Bolts Spark Excitement

Officials confirmed two 'megaflash' lightning bolts in Brazil and Argentina that struck down previous world records

The Smithsonian 2020 Folklife Festival is online (above: Reconstructing Hope: Black Religions in the Age of Black Lives Matter, June 29).

Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival Moves into Your Living Room

This year, experience the familiar smells, sights and sounds, while streaming the events online

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