Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Wildlife

The study focused on Kanzi, a language-trained bonobo who died in March 2025 at the age of 44.

Can Apes Play Pretend? What Scientists Learned From Having Imaginary ‘Tea Parties’ With Kanzi the Bonobo

A new study provides evidence for imagination in a captive-raised, English language-trained animal

Researchers have produced hundreds of Galápagos tortoises genetically related to the extinct Floreana Island subspecies, thanks to a surprising discovery and captive breeding program.

Giant Tortoises Vanished From the Galápagos’ Floreana Island More Than 150 Years Ago. Now, Conservationists Have Brought Them Back

Researchers released captive-bred tortoises carrying the ancestry of the extinct local species

Screenshot from the footage of a sleeper shark seen in Antarctica's waters

See the First Known Footage of an Elusive Southern Sleeper Shark Swimming in Antarctica’s Near-Freezing Waters

It might be the southernmost encounter with a shark ever documented

Spinosaurus mirabilis prowled around what is now Africa some 95 million years ago.

This Massive, Meat-Eating Dinosaur Was a ‘Hell Heron’ That Waded Into Shallow Waters to Nab Slippery Fish

Paleontologists unearthed a new species of Spinosaurus in the Sahara Desert in Niger, a discovery that adds to the debate over whether the prehistoric creatures were fully or semi-aquatic

Researchers are developing A.I.-based facial recognition tools to identify individual bears.

How Do Researchers Identify Individual Bears in the Wild? They Could Soon Do It Through A.I. Facial Recognition Technology

Such tools could help scientists track population sizes or recognize aggressive animals that have attacked humans

Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) get jealous of their siblings' grooming sessions. 

Like Humans, Baboons Get Jealous of Their Siblings

A new study found that young baboons try to interrupt their mother when she is grooming a sibling

Bird flu devastated a colony of northern gannets, seabirds almost the size of albatrosses, on Bass Rock in Scotland. Researchers working with the birds are holding onto hope that the breeding population will slowly build the colony back.

After a Devastating Bird Flu Outbreak, Scotland’s Seabirds Are Slowly Recovering—and So Are the Scientists Who Witnessed Their Decline

The world’s largest colony of northern gannets was decimated by bird flu in 2022. Now, as their numbers climb again, researchers are collecting data to understand the virus’ lasting effects

The greater Bermuda land snail

Scientists Once Thought This Snail Was Extinct. But a Surprising Discovery and Decade-Long Conservation Effort Revived the Species

Conservationists have bred and released more than 100,000 greater Bermuda land snails

European robins normally live in western Eurasia and parts of North Africa, but this one somehow ended up in Canada.

Bird-Watchers Flock to Montreal to Catch a Glimpse of Canada’s First Known European Robin

Experts don’t know how the little songbird traveled across the Atlantic Ocean

An elephant has about 1,000 whiskers on its trunk.

An Elephant’s Trunk Is Covered in Whiskers—and They’re Unlike Those on Any Other Animal, a New Study Suggests

Hundreds of the specialized hairs help the poor-sighted creatures navigate the world

Once treated by humans as prey, horses became key to transportation, warfare, trade and companionship. Their history is intertwined with our own.

Gallop Into the Year of the Horse With These Five Amazing Equine Discoveries

Since their domestication, horses have changed the course of human history. It’s no wonder the Chinese zodiac associates them with prosperity and success

Rhesus macaques at the Oregon National Primate Research Center

A Massive Monkey Research Center Might Turn Into a Primate Sanctuary. Animal Activists Rejoice, While Scientists Worry

The Oregon National Primate Research Center will explore a potentially federally supported transition with the National Institutes of Health

A gray wolf in California.

A Gray Wolf Visited Los Angeles County for the First Time in a Century, Marking a Major Milestone in the Species’ Recovery

The 3-year-old female wolf, called BEY03F, is probably looking for a mate

Larvae of the European black oil beetle, which are orange, ride bees to their nests and then chow down on bee eggs.

These Parasitic Beetles Mimic the Smell of Flowers So They Can Trick Bees and Raid Their Nests, New Research Suggests

They might be the first animals known to fake a floral scent

Scientists found that fringe-lipped bats have a roughly 50 percent success rate when trying to capture prey.

These Lazy Bats Are Super-Efficient Killers That Carefully Conserve Energy to Attack at a Moment’s Notice

Wild fringe-lipped bats spend just one-tenth of the night in flight, but they can precisely snatch a calling frog and nab prey that rivals their own size

A giant phantom jelly documented by a recent deep-sea expedition

See a Rare, Bus-Size Giant Phantom Jelly Wade Through Ocean Waters Off the Coast of Argentina

A recent deep-sea expedition along the country’s entire length documented the jellyfish, along with a surprising number of other species

Stoats, also often known as ermines, are carnivorous mammals in the weasel family. Two stoats are the mascots of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

What Is a Stoat? Learn Five Fun Facts About the Adorable Weasels Chosen as the Olympic Mascots

Milo and Tina, a pair of sibling stoats, are representing this year’s winter games in Italy

A small underwater lens made a coral in Indonesia look like another common lifeform.

See the Beauty of Corals, Beehives, Mushrooms and More in These 11 Images From the Close-Up Photographer of the Year Awards

Now in its seventh year, the competition honors macro, micro and close-up images snapped around the world

Volunteers repairing the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, England, in 2019

This Massive Hillside Figure Has Mystified Historians for Centuries. Now, Donations Have Secured the Surrounding Landscape

The National Trust has purchased the land around England’s Cerne Abbas Giant, which will help protect the mysterious chalk figure and nearby wildlife for future generations

After exposing an ant to the air pollutant ozone, its nestmates acted aggressively toward it.

Air Pollution Can Cause Some Ants to Turn on One Another—and Neglect Their Young, New Research Suggests

The findings further hint that air pollution, particularly ozone, is contributing to the “insect apocalypse”

Page 5 of 57