Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Weird Animals

The Pleistocene world was filled with megafauna like woolly mammoths and saber-tooth cats. Did humans kill them all off?

New Research

Are Humans to Blame for the Disappearance of Earth’s Fantastic Beasts?

100,000 years ago, giant sloths, wombats and cave hyenas roamed the world. What drove them all extinct?

Ramazzottius varieornatus, a species of tardigrade, photographed with scanning electron microscope

New Research

Why Are Tardigrades the World’s Hardiest Creature? DNA Offers Clues

They may be tiny, but don’t let their stubby stature fool you

The fin of a blacktip shark glides through the waters in the Bahamas.

New Research

Ten Things We’ve Learned about Sharks Since Last Shark Week

In light of Shark Week 2017, here are some revelations about the fearsome fish we’ve made in the past year

Little does it know, but getting eaten by a great tit is the least of this grub's worries.

New Research

Meet the Supervillain Worm That Gets By With a Little Help From Its Friends

This deadly nematode and its sidekicks reveal the power of bacterial symbiosis

Here, wildebeest find themselves trapped by high cliffs while crossing the Mara River in Africa's Serengeti. Every year thousands of wildebeest die while crossing the river due to strong currents or crossing at dangerous sites.

New Research

The Upside of Rotting Carcasses

Large animals dying en masse are crucial to the the Serengeti—and they aren’t the only ones

Marianne Nyegaard poses next to a beached hoodwinker sunfish near Christchurch, New Zealand.

Cool Finds

Found: New Species of Ocean Sunfish, the World’s Largest Bony Fish

After identifying genetic traces of the creature, one researcher spent years searching for the aquatic beast

The pale tiger found in Tamil Nadu

Cool Finds

Stunning Images Capture Rare Pale Tiger in India

An unusual genetic combination likely led to the creature’s exceptionally light coloration

A horseshoe crab.

Future of Conservation

Forget Dinos: Horseshoe Crabs Are Stranger, More Ancient—And Still Alive Today

But now evolution’s ultimate survivors may be in danger

Every species lights up the night in its own unique sequence of patterns, colors and flashes.

Illuminating the Secret Language of Lightning Bugs

For these light-up lovers, each flash in the night could mean sex or death

The endangered blobfish, once named world's ugliest animal, has leveraged its unusual looks to win the Internet's adoration. Can other less-traditionally appealing creatures do the same?

Future of Conservation

When It Comes to Conservation, Are Ugly Animals a Lost Cause?

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but good marketing can do wonders

Pyrosoma atlanticum floating off of Santa Cruz Island.

Hordes of Gelatinous “Sea Pickles” Are Invading the West Coast

Usually a rare creature, no one yet knows the reason for the influx of the light-emitting creatures

The sun may get all the attention, but our lunar lodestar helps creatures navigate the swells and tides of ocean life.

How Moonlight Sets Nature’s Rhythms

Lunar luster triggers mating orgies, guides travelers and even can even provoke magical transformations

A painting depicting a tribute giraffe and a handler sent to China in the 15th century.

The Peculiar Story of Giraffes in 1400s China

During China’s short-lived golden age of exploration, two giraffes came to the imperial court

A spiny crab pulled up by the Investigator team

Cool Finds

Australian Expedition Dredges Up Crazy Creatures From the Deep Sea

After a month exploring Australia’s deepest ocean, researchers found over 300 new species of toothy, blobby and glowing animals

Louie, having one last drink at the bar before heading home.

Trending Today

132-Year-Old Lobster Earns a Pardon from the Pot

Louie, a 22-pound crustacean born during the Cleveland administration, returned to the sea after 20 years living at Peter’s Clam Bar

Cool Finds

Rare Two-Headed Porpoise Found in North Sea

Only nine other cases of conjoined cetacean twins have ever been documented

Trending Today

Eagles Adopt—Not Attack—a Red-Tailed Hawk Chick

Bird lovers are watching with bated breath to see if the eagles will keep feeding the little guy or turn him into dinner

Male deer grow these impressive face ornaments every year, in a cycle of life, death and itchiness.

New Research

Antlers Are Miraculous Face Organs That Could Benefit Human Health

There’s so much more to deer antlers than fighting and impressing the ladies

Fossilized skin from the neck of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

New Research

T. Rex Was Likely Covered in Scales, Not Feathers

The research dispels theories that the fearsome dino boasted a feathery plume

Black soldier fly larvae

Trending Today

Got Food Waste? Get Some Maggots

In just a few hours, these tiny crawlers can eat more than their weight in food

Page 33 of 43