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Mammals

Ask Smithsonian: What’s the Longest You Can Hold Your Breath?

A dive into the science shows it is possible to override the system

A spotted hyena in South Africa's Kruger National Park.

North America Used to Have its Very Own Hyena

These giggly beasts didn’t just roam Africa and the Middle East. They were right here in our backyard

These are the creatures snakes have nightmares about.

The Animals That Venom Can’t Touch

Meet the creatures who look into the face of venomous death and say: Not today

The mammoth skull being excavated on Santa Rosa Island

Cool Finds

Scientists Puzzle Over Unusual Mammoth Skull Unearthed in the Channel Islands

The well-preserved fossil doesn’t neatly fit in with other examples of the species

A pair of bison hang out in the snow at Yellowstone National Park, one of the United States' best spots to see the huge mammals.

American Safaris: Where to See the Biggest Mammals in the U.S.

Go wild for the United States’ largest mammals and take an American Safari

The lowly urban rat deserves our attention.

In Defense of Studying City Rats

By placing a taboo on researching these “disease sponges,” we leave ourselves at their mercy

What kept giraffes apart so long that they developed into separate species?

New Research

There Are Four Giraffe Species—Not Just One

The downside to this revelation: several of the new species are critically endangered

Captive Bactrian deer at The Wilds, a conservation center in Cumberland, Ohio. Until recently, the deer was feared locally extinct in Afghanistan.

Rare Afghan Deer Endures Two Major Wars, Is Ultimate Survivor

Researchers feared the endangered ungulate had gone locally extinct. The Bactrian deer proved them wrong

New Research

Fertility Problems for Man’s Best Friend Could Spell Trouble for Man

Dog sperm quality has decreased likely from household chemical exposure

Move Over, Madagascar: This Island Has the World’s Greatest Concentration of Unique Mammals

The majority of them are found nowhere else on Earth, making Luzon a biological treasure trove

Two skulls belonging to extinct marine mammal herbivores used in the new study, both from the Smithsonian's collections.

When Did Today’s Whales Get So Big?

More recently than you might think, say scientists who scoured the fossil record

Expanding human populations in India have pushed tigers into small, isolated habitats—and resulted in some unusual behaviors.

Anthropocene

Sorry, Tiger Dudes: Your Ladies Are Faking It

India’s tigresses may be feigning interest in sex as the result of shrinking habitat and overlapping territories

Jayson Mesman and his truffle hunting dog Samson hard at work at The Truffle Farm.

These Adorable Rescue Dogs Lead Truffle Hunting Tours in Australia’s Majura Valley

An Australian farmer trains these abandoned canines to sleuth out a gourmet delicacy

New Research

Mammals May Have Dinosaurs to Thank for Their Night Vision

Mammals most likely developed a new pathway to night vision to avoid the jaws of dinos and other daytime predators

Co-author in the new study, Nick Longrich from the Milner Centre for Evolution at Bath University, poses with some mammal specimens.

New Research

The Event that Wiped out Dinosaurs Also Nearly Did in the Mammals

New estimates suggest a measly seven percent of mammals survived the extinction

African dogs, it turns out, make some of the best dads in the mammal world.

Rare ‘Family Guy’ Mammal Dads Give Us All Something to Strive For

Let’s give a Father’s Day shout-out to mammal dads who put family first—and benefit themselves as well

Why Do Humans Have Canine Teeth and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Trending Today

The Bison Is Now the Official Mammal of the United States

The big beasts are the first official mammals recognized by the federal government

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

In a new book The Naturalist, the Smithsonian's Darrin Lunde draws on Teddy Roosevelt's diaries and expedition journals to tell the story of the 26th president as a prodigious hunter, tireless adventurer and ardent conservationist.

Teddy Roosevelt’s Epic (But Strangely Altruistic) Hunt for a White Rhino

In a new book, a Smithsonian naturalist tells the gritty, controversial tale of how one of America’s presidents felled a threatened species

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