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Wildlife

Members of the rescue team on a barge that later transported the whale to the North Sea

Timmy the Whale Was Released Into the North Sea After Being Stranded Off the German Coast for Weeks. Was That the Right Call?

The humpback whale first entered shallow water at the end of March, but its health deteriorated over the past few weeks. Experts have criticized efforts to rescue the animal, which may have done more harm than good

About 47 percent of wolves in Italy are considered wolf-dog hybrids, according to a recent genetic analysis.

Nearly Half of Italy’s Wolves Are Part Dog Now, Thanks to Hybridization. Is That a Threat to the Species?

Wolf-dog hybrids are growing far more common in Italy, raising scientists’ concerns for the future of the wolves

The first image of newly hatched California giant salamanders in the wild can teach biologists about the nesting habitat of the little-known species.

A Snorkeling Biologist Snapped the First-Ever Photo of Newly Hatched California Giant Salamanders in the Wild. Here’s Why That’s a Big Deal

The discovery provides another key data point about a little-known species for which every observation matters

An intrepid male orangutan crosses an artificial bridge connecting trees on either side of a public road.

Watch the First Known Video of a Sumatran Orangutan Crossing a Human-Made Wildlife Bridge in the Treetops

A public road in Indonesia separates forests housing about 350 wild orangutans, among other animals. So, conservationists built several canopy bridges to prevent habitat fragmentation

African fattail scorpion (Androctonus amoreuxi)

Scorpions Are So Metal—Literally. New Images Reveal Patterns in How Their Weaponry Is Fortified With Iron, Zinc and Manganese

Scientists knew the stingers and pincers of these arachnids generally contained metals, but a new Smithsonian-led study maps out how these components are distributed

After researchers aboard the Okeanos Explorer ship couldn't figure out the orb's identity, they sent it to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History for a more thorough investigation.

Cool Finds

Scientists Found This Mysterious Golden Orb on the Seafloor Nearly Three Years Ago. Now, They Finally Know What It Is

After a long, winding road of tests, researchers at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and other institutions determined that the strange blob once attached a large sea anemone to a rock

The two-toned lobster will go on display at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium when it reopens next year.

See the 1-in-50-Million Split-Color Lobster Caught Off the Coast of Massachusetts. It’s Carrying Two Sets of Genetic Information

The unusual-looking crustacean is two-toned, with a line dividing its body into an orange side and a brown side. This can happen when two fertilized, unlaid lobster eggs touch—causing one to absorb the other

SERC ecologist Jamie Pullen inserts a tool called a dibble bar into the ground to create a hole for a sapling.

The Planet Needs Prosperous Forests. These Scientists Are Planting More Than 33,000 Trees to Find the Perfect Species Blends

Forests provide myriad benefits, including timber, wildlife attraction, local cooling and climate resilience. At the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, ecologists are testing which tree combinations might create flourishing woodlands

The researchers studied a wetland shaped by Eurasian beavers in Switzerland.

Beavers Are Ecosystem Engineers—and They Might Be Helpful Allies in the Fight Against Human-Caused Climate Change

New research suggests that wetlands created by the industrious rodents are carbon sinks, meaning they store a lot of heat-trapping carbon dioxide—the human-produced gas largely responsible for today’s global warming

The monkeys sometimes steal food from tourists.

Gibraltar’s Famous Monkeys Are Eating Dirt, Likely to Alleviate Stomach Aches From Munching on Tourists’ Junk Food

The British territory’s Barbary macaques are the only wild monkeys in Europe. But many are consuming human snacks high in calories, sugar, salt and dairy, and low in fiber

A camera set up by the conservation organization Panthera captured a healthy male jaguar in the Sierra del Merendón mountain range.

A Rare ‘Cloud Jaguar’ Was Spotted in Honduran Mountains for the First Time in a Decade, Representing a Win for Conservationists

The big cats are rarely seen at high elevations, so the sighting suggests that efforts to protect a wildlife corridor in the region are working

In experiments, juvenile Atlantic salmon that were exposed to cocaine’s primary metabolite swam more and dispersed farther than their sober peers.

Cocaine Pollution Seems to Make Salmon Swim Farther Than Usual. Scientists Don’t Know the Long-Term Consequences

The illegal drug’s main byproduct, benzoylecgonine, caused more robust effects than cocaine itself. Wastewater treatment plants often don’t fully process such metabolites, so they are frequently found in bodies of water at higher concentrations than their parent drugs

A female lynx named Ulcera carries a rabbit to a water trough and dunks it on July 16, 2024. This incident was one of eight that researchers recorded among lynxes in central Spain.

Camera Traps Reveal Iberian Lynxes Soaking Their Prey, a First-Ever Discovery Among Carnivores

Scientists speculate that the wild cats are trying to improve hydration or ease their cubs’ transition to solid food. The finding points to resilience in one of the world’s most endangered felines

Scientists have long assumed that queen transitions in naked mole rat colonies were always chaotic and violent. But new research suggests another, more peaceful path also exists.

Naked Mole Rats Usually Duke It Out to Choose Their Next Queen. But These Unusual Rodents May Be Capable of More Peaceful Transitions of Power

In a laboratory experiment centered around a colony known as the Amigos, researchers observed a subordinate female take over reproduction without incident

The reseachers investigated preserved specimens kept at museums, like this Bufoceratias wedli from the Field Museum in Chicago.

Anglerfish Are Known for Their Built-in Fishing Rods. New Research Sheds Light on How These Lures Evolved in the Strange Creatures

A new study suggests the odd appendages first appeared in the fish’s ancestors around 72 million years ago. Today, females might use them not only to attract prey but also to communicate with potential mates

Andrena regularis, or the regular mining bee, is an important pollinator species.

Scientists Found 5.6 Million Burrowing Bees Beneath a Cemetery in New York. The Group Is One of the Largest on Record

Researchers in Ithaca estimated the number of ground-nesting bees emerging from a local cemetery in spring 2023, revealing just how abundant some understudied pollinators are

As of April 10, 105 kakapo eggs had hatched, and 95 chicks were still alive.

A Bountiful Berry Harvest Put These Chunky, Endangered Parrots in the Mood. Now, Scientists Are Celebrating a Breeding Bonanza

New Zealand’s kakapo have laid 256 eggs, and around 100 of them have hatched, providing a bright spot in a decades-long conservation effort. The official chick count won’t be confirmed until the youngest birds are about 5 months old

Entomologist Mark Moffett photographed cone ants climbing onto and cleaning harvester ants.

These Tiny Ants Crawled All Over Larger Ants and Licked Them Clean. Scientists Aren’t Sure How This Behavior Benefits Any of Them

After witnessing the interactions in an Arizona desert, a Smithsonian researcher suggests that the little ants picked off tasty treats and that the big ants got thoroughly groomed in hard-to-reach places

Biologists with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are working hard to eradicate nutria from the state.

Large Invasive Rodents Are Wreaking Havoc in California. New Research Suggests Someone Deliberately Introduced Them

Genetic testing revealed that nutria living in California since 2017 are most closely related to a population in central Oregon—too far for the creatures to have traveled on their own

A Symphony of Disappearing Sounds for the Great Salt Lake, Olafur Eliasson, 2026

A Glowing Sphere Towering Over Utah Sent an Urgent Artistic Message: The Great Salt Lake Is Drying Up

Olafur Eliasson’s latest installation married visuals with a soundscape to draw the public’s attention to the plight of the important ecosystem

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