Articles tagged as Zoology | Smithsonian Magazine

Mirror Image

The first evidence that elephants can recognize themselves

December 2006

35 Who Made a Difference: Clyde Roper

He’s spent his life chasing a sea monster that’s never been taken alive

November 1, 2005

To Catch A Thief

When biologists study food theft among endangered roseate terns, they find that crime most definitely pays

December 2003

Ouch!

A new finding that fish feel pain has set off a tortured debate about the ethics of angling

November 2003

Having logged thousands of hours observing chimpanzees and other apes, Frans de Waal (left, at his Atlanta field station) argues that primates, including humans and bonobos, are more cooperative and less ruthless than once thought.

Rethinking Primate Aggression

Researcher Frans de Waal shows that apes (and humans) get along better than we thought

August 2003

Kandula frolicking with mother Shanthi at the National Zoo at 8 months.

Great Expectations

Elephant researchers believe they can boost captive-animal reproduction rates and reverse a potential population crash in zoos

June 2003

Mystery Bumps

Scientists knew that alligators’ jaws are covered in bumps but it took biologist Daphne Soares to figure out why

May 2003

Having stopped a mother bear with a tranquilizer dart shot from the helicopter, Derocher (with Andersen, left, and Instanes, on Spitsbergen Island) tethers the cubs and takes tissue samples to gauge the mother's exposure to industrial chemicals like PCBs.

Bear Trouble

Only hundreds of miles from the North Pole, industrial chemicals threaten the Arctic’s greatest predator

April 2003

Bringing Up Baby

Scientists zero in on the caring and cunning ways of a seldom-seen waterbird

April 2003

Sea Searchers

Scientists launch a $1 billion effort to track marine life worldwide

January 2003

Behind the Lines: Close Calls

Danger comes with the territory for our writers

January 2002

The Bone Collectors

A pair of biologists on Cumberland Island save the remains of dead sea critters for others to study

February 2001

Eugene Gilbert in Bleriot XI attacked by eagle over Pyrenees in 1911 depicted in this painting

Evidence from the Skies

July 2000

Animal Old Folks

For the National Zoo’s esteemed senior citizens, only the very best in geriatric medical care will do

December 1999

Phenomena, Comment and Notes

As scientists probe deeper into whether animals really have consciousness, questions arise. If they think, do we want to know what they think about us?

February 1997