Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

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Smarter Foragers Do Not Forage Smarter

Why do primates have big brains? In the Panamanian rainforest, scientists pitted large-brained primates against smaller-brained mammals to find out who was the smartest forager.

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Indigenous Marine Scientist Studies Fish Feeding Evolution in Panama

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Red Flags: I'm Not the Bug for You

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Following the Swarm: Making a Documentary Short Film In Panama’s Tropical Forest

Colorless corals

Why Are There Suddenly So Many Bleached Corals Along the Caribbean Coast of Panama?

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A 17-Year Study Reveals How Dead Leaves Are a Tropical Forest Lifeline

BCI Mangrove fossils

A 22 Million-Year-Old Mangrove Forest Was Discovered on Panama’s Barro Colorado Island

Joshua Tewksbury

Why the World Needs a Standard Measure for Counting Carbon

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Extraordinary Fossil Find Reveals Details About the Weight and Diet of Extinct Saber-Toothed Marsupial

Dr. Ruth Bennett holding Summer Tanager

Drink Coffee, Eat Chocolate, Save Birds!

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A Turtle Time Capsule: DNA Found in Ancient Shell

boat in Panama's Montijo Bay

First global assessment of the sustainability of coral reef fisheries

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Gamboa Bat Nights: Bilingual Noches de Murciélagos along the Panama Canal

Tree Frog

Barro Colorado Island, One Hundred Years of Science and Discoveries

Bat lands on a speaker to collect a baitfish reward

Does This Ring a Bell? Wild Bats Can Remember Sounds for Years

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A Yellow Submarine Explores the Depths of the Panamanian Pacific

Secretary Bunch atop the canopy crane

Secretary Lonnie Bunch Visits the 'Farthest Rock From the Sun of the Smithsonian'

As part of her fieldwork, Fernandez habituated the bats to her presence near their day-roosts, obtaining observations of their natural behaviors and recording their vocalizations in a completely undisturbed environment during months. (Ana Endara)

Similar to Human Babies, This Bat Species Learns to Communicate Through Babbling and Vocal Imitation

Clavelina puertosecensis, a species of tunicate, taken by Shih Wei, a student of the Tunicates course at the Bocas del Toro Research Station, in Panama. Experts teach courses and create instructional videos on how to collect, preserve and observe marine invertebrate groups. (Credit: STRI)

Like A Cooking Show With Worms: Smithsonian Videos Teach Tropical Taxonomy of Diverse Marine Creatures

The purple-flowered crown of Dipteryx oleifera, one of the biggest trees on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, towers above the forest. Big trees may be most exposed to the effects of climate change: more frequent and severe drought, and the high winds and lightning of monster storms. (Evan Gora)

How Will the Biggest Tropical Trees Respond to Climate Change?

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Archeologists Learn to Piece Together the Past

Smarter Foragers Do Not Forage Smarter

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