Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Mammals

Shovel-tusked elephants like Amebelodon were discovered nearly a century ago, and paleontologists have learned more about their anatomy and behavior with time. This 1932 illustration was later found to be inaccurate, as Amebelodon actually had a longer and narrower trunk.

Strange, Shovel-Tusked Elephants Puzzled Paleontologists, Until Experts Took a Closer Look at Their Teeth

The animals’ extended lower jaws were seemingly made for scooping, but research over the past few decades has found they could do a lot more than initially expected

Common big-eared bats eat relatively large insects, such as katydids.

A Robot Is Unraveling the Secrets of How Some Bats Bounce Sound Waves Off Leaves to Find Insect Prey

A new study from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute used a robot to mimic common big-eared bats’ echolocation skills

Naked mole-rats are unusual for their long lives and resistance to cancer. Now, researchers suggest the rodents not only tolerate but prefer to be in low-oxygen air.

Naked Mole-Rats Prefer Low-Oxygen Air That Would Kill Most Mammals, Adding to Their List of Death-Defying Superpowers

These underground rodents are the first mammals found to actively choose air with lower-than-normal oxygen levels. Their remarkable ability to survive these conditions could offer a key model for researchers studying new treatments for stroke or lung diseases in humans

Research suggests that elephants use certain plants for medicinal purposes.

When Some Elephants Raid Farms, They Might Not Be After a Snack. They Could Be Looking for Medicinal Plants

A recent study suggests that the large mammals may seek out parts of bananas and papayas when they’re suffering from gut parasites, sparking a cross-species exchange of pharmaceutical knowledge

Male white-tailed deer rub their heads on trees and urinate on scraped-up earth to leave "signposts," which glow under ultraviolet light, a study suggests.

When Male Deer Mark Trees, Those Spots May Glow Like Neon Lights at Dusk and Dawn, Though Humans Usually Can’t See Them

During the breeding season, white-tailed deer might use their eyes and noses to navigate signs—forehead secretions on trees and urine on the ground—left by males of their species, a study suggests

Researchers were surprised when they spotted an additional cub with this mother polar bear.

This Mama Polar Bear Adopted a Young Cub—and You Can Track the Family as They Wander Around the Hudson Bay

The rare event marks the 13th known instance of adoption within this well-studied group of polar bears living in the western Hudson Bay area

In 2025, researchers watched an interstellar comet, learned about human origins and traced the spread of measles.

The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2025, From Medical Breakthroughs to an Interstellar Visitor

All year long, these moments captivated the public, demonstrated dangerous trends, and pushed research and innovation forward

The growth plates, known as specimens UAMN3760 and UAMN3724, were discovered near Fairbanks in the early 1950s.

Mysteriously Young ‘Mammoth’ Fossils Discovered in Alaska Turned Out to Be Whale Bones

When researchers learned the fossils were merely 1,900 to 2,700 years old—which would be the youngest woolly mammoth fossils ever found—they suspected something was amiss

A trail camera in Vermont captured 80 photos of moths fluttering around a moose's head, likely slurping up its tears.

Trail Cameras in Vermont Captured Something Strange: Moths Sipping a Moose’s Tears

Tear-drinking, known as lachryphagy, has mostly been observed in the tropics, so scientists were somewhat surprised to find the unusual behavior so far north

An illustration of ancient sea cows

A Trove of Sea Cow Fossils in Qatar Reveals a New Species That Munched on Seagrass 21 Million Years Ago

The findings suggest that sea cows have been engineering ecosystems in the Persian Gulf for tens of millions of years

Experts spent two days trying to save the whale, which weighed roughly 20,000 pounds.

When a Humpback Whale Got Stranded in Oregon, a Native Community Turned the Tragedy Into a Revival of a Traditional Practice

Members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians salvaged a beached whale’s remains, a practice that hadn’t been performed in generations

A gray seal mother feeding a pup

The Mammal With the Most Complex Milk Might Not Be Humans, After All. The Atlantic Gray Seal Could Take That Title

A new study found 332 types of complex sugar molecules in the seals’ milk, some of which help protect young from harmful bacteria. The discovery might one day help improve human health by boosting babies’ immune systems

A raccoon peers out from a tree. New research suggests urban raccoons in the United States have shorter snouts than rural raccoons do, a sign of potential domestication.

Urban Raccoons Are Showing Signs of Early Domestication, With Shorter Snouts Than Their Rural Cousins

The shorter faces of these city-dwelling trash bandits offer a telltale sign of domestication and line up with a leading hypothesis about animals that adapt to human-dominated environments, according to a new study

Remoras hitch a ride on a humpback whale.

Watch Suckerfish Hitch a Wild Ride on Humpback Whales in Rare Video Footage

Suckerfish—also known as remoras—are harmless, but the whales didn’t seem to be fans of their hitchhiking

Two chimpanzees sit in the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda, where the study took place.

Chimpanzees Weigh Evidence to Make a Smart Choice, in a Process Resembling Human Rationality

When presented with multiple clues about the location of food, chimps revised their choices based only on stronger clues, indicating they were comparing the worth of pieces of information

The orcas went after the juvenile great white sharks’ livers, which are rich in nutrients and high in calories. Here, an orca swims alongside a wounded shark.

Orcas in Mexico Have Learned to Attack Young Great White Sharks—by Flipping Them Upside Down and Eating Their Livers

Researchers captured the novel behavior on video in the Gulf of California, recording three separate takedowns across two hunts carried out by members of the Moctezuma pod

A camera trap image of El Jefe, a male jaguar who made international news as the only known jaguar in the United States.

How El Jefe, the Lone Arizona Jaguar Who Captivated a Nation in 2016, Became a ‘Rock Star’

Once called “America’s last jaguar,” the solitary male wandered across the southern border in 2011 and became the centerpiece of a campaign to protect habitat in the Santa Rita Mountains

Bat? Meet rat. Scientists recorded brown rats snatching bats from the air and eating them.

Rats Are Snatching Bats Out of the Air and Eating Them—and Researchers Got It on Video

Rodents in northern Germany were spotted using two different hunting strategies at major urban bat hibernation sites

Six species of North American bats—big brown bats (pictured), eastern red bats, Seminole bats, southeastern myotis, gray bats and Brazilian free-tailed bats—glow green under ultraviolet light, new research shows.

These Bats Glow Green Under UV Light, Joining a Growing List of Photoluminescent Mammals

A recent study identifies a consistent glow across six species of North American bats, but the underlying reason for the animals’ green gleam is still unclear

Bowhead whales' cold-water habitats help the animals make more CIRBP protein.  

Bowhead Whales Live Long Lives. Do They Hold the Key to Human Longevity?

A cold-activated gene that helps the mammals repair their DNA may also help humans live longer

Page 3 of 41