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Nature

Many different types of animals, from birds to orcas, are affected by human noise.

Five Dramatic Ways Animals Respond to Human Noise, From Mimicking Car Alarms While Wooing Mates to Calling Higher Over the Din of Traffic

As human-caused sound gets louder around the world, some animals change their behavior and many creatures suffer health issues

The 2025 map shows predictions for each week between September 1 and November 17.

See When Fabulous Fall Foliage Will Peak in Your State With This Interactive Map

Use the tool’s week-by-week, county-by-county predictions to plan your autumnal adventures—and make the most of the 2025 leaf-peeping season

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

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Zagreb’s Backyard Wilderness Is Calling—Here’s How to Experience It

Just outside Croatia’s capital, Medvednica Nature Park invites travelers into a year-round world of alpine trails, rich biodiversity, hearty mountain fare, and deep-rooted history

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

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

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

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Before Meditation Apps, Listeners Were Hooked on Whale Songs, Rain Sounds and the ‘Scream of the Southern Leopard Frog’

We’ve been listening to the great outdoors from the comfort of our homes since the invention of the portable tape recorder. Can nature sounds drown out the cacophony of modern life?

Several species have evolved in response to human environmental impacts.

Five Astounding Ways Humans Are Driving Animal Evolution, Including Causing Lizards to Grow Longer Legs and Leading Moth Populations to Become Darker

When people build cities and introduce invasive creatures, resident critter populations sometimes adapt

Artist illustration of a pack of Borophagus secundus

What Happened to the Bone-Crushing Dogs That Once Hunted Across North America?

Before going extinct roughly two million years ago, canids known as borophagines took down and consumed much larger prey

The Barbados threadsnake is just three to four inches long and about the same width as a strand of spaghetti. Pictured here in 2006, the species was officially described in 2008.

Scientists Feared the World’s Smallest Snake Had Gone Extinct. They Just Found It Again

When fully grown, the Barbados threadsnake is only three to four inches long—shorter than many earthworms

Feral cats have made their home on Fire Island.

Why Fire Island Has Seen an Explosion of Feral Cats

In New York’s only federal wilderness area, the loss of a key predator has led to the rise of a new one—with dire consequences for the island’s native birds

The eyelash viper is a relatively small species, with adults averaging from 22 to 32 inches long. Its most distinguishing feature, and origin of its common name, is the set of modified scales above the eyes that look much like eyelashes.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

See 15 Photos of Sensational, Slithering Snakes

These reptiles often get a bad rap, but there are plenty of reasons to celebrate snakes

A large prawn walks over a field of mineral-rich nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ).

As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences

Gathering minerals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium from the seabed could affect everything from sponges to whales. The long-term effects of these extractions remain uncertain

Walter De Maria's The New York Earth Room, which opened in 1977

New York City Loft Filled With 280,000 Pounds of Dirt Lives on After Death of Beloved Caretaker

Bill Dilworth, who died at age 70, had carefully maintained the curious art installation—known as “The New York City Earth Room”—and charmed visitors since 1989

Artist Charlie Whinney poses for a photo inside the installation he created around a section of the Sycamore Gap tree.

The Largest Section of the Beloved Sycamore Gap Tree Is Going on Display in England

The iconic tree was illegally chopped down in September 2023, but its memory will live on in the form of a new art installation that invites visitors to touch—and even embrace—a piece of its trunk

Harpy eagles feed on sloths and monkeys.

Why Did a Large Harpy Eagle Attack an Adult Woman?

The incident, which took place in the forest in French Guiana, was an extremely rare occurrence

Ancient sloths lived in trees, on mountains, in deserts, in boreal forests and on open savannas. Some grew as large as elephants.

Giant Sloths and Many Other Massive Creatures Were Once Common on Our Planet. With Environmental Changes, Such Giants Could Thrive Again

If large creatures like elephants, giraffes and bison are allowed to thrive, they could alter habitats that allow for the rise of other giants

Gilad Topaz's "Drifting In Space" captures the moment that passengers onboard an icebreaker in the frozen Baltic Sea took a short break to swim.

See Ten Stunning Images From the International Aerial Photographer of the Year Awards

Breathtaking views of glaciers, volcanoes and animals were celebrated in the competition’s inaugural year

A dark cloud of starlings shapeshifts over Rome.

A Closer Look at the Kestrels, Hedgehogs and Other Wild Animals That Inhabit Rome

From antiquity to modern times, the city has been rife with creatures that creep, slither, scurry and nest among its pillars and palaces

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