Wildlife

The city of Shanghai presents A True Story (above), an impressive work of mosaïculture, at Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal 2013.

Horticultural Artists Grow Fantastical Scenes at the Montréal Botanical Garden

Take a peek at some of the living artwork entered in an international competition in Quebec this summer

Blood type, metabolism, exercise, shirt color and even drinking beer can make individuals especially delicious to mosquitoes.

Ask Smithsonian

Why Do Mosquitoes Bite Some People More Than Others?

Blood type, metabolism, exercise, shirt color and even drinking beer can make individuals especially delicious to mosquitoes

A community of glass sponges under Antarctica’s ice.

Glass Sponges Move In As Antarctic Ice Shelves Melt

Typically slow-growing glass sponge communities are popping up quickly now that disappearing shelf ice has changed ocean conditions around Antarctica

New research shows that unlike any other small mammal, bats stretch their tendons to store and release energy.

Amazing High Speed X-Ray Videos Reveal How Bats Take Flight

Unlike any other small mammal, bats stretch their tendons to store and release energy, helping the creatures launch into the air

The habitual use of antibiotics at industrial farming operations to promote growth can lead to the development of bacteria resistant to the drugs.

Factory Farms May Be Ground-Zero For Drug Resistant Staph Bacteria

Staph microbes with resistance to common treatments are much more common in industrial farms than antibiotic-free operations

Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, which ranks as one of the countries with the highest amount of biodiversity but the least funding to protect it.

Funding Biases Affect Wildlife Protection in the Developing World

Forty countries that receive low levels of aid for environmental conservation contain about one-third of the world's threatened species

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Why Do We Yawn and Why Is It Contagious?

Pinpointing exactly why we yawn is a tough task, but the latest research suggests that our sleepy sighs help to regulate the temperature of our brains

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This Bumpy-Faced Reptile Ruled the Prehistoric Desert

Newly excavated fossils tell us more about the cow-sized, plant-eating Bunostegos akokanensis, which roamed Pangea around 260 million years ago

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UPDATE: Red Panda Found After It Escaped from Its Enclosure

Rusty, a red panda, was first discovered missing from his enclosure early Monday morning, but was found in the afternoon

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Behind the Scenes, Birds of a Feather, Studied Together

From early studies from Audobon to gifts from Ethiopian kings, the specimens in this collection each have a story

Who do you think is the bigger threat in this picture?

A Turn in the Tide for Sharks and Their Public Image

Nearly 40 years after Jaws gave sharks a bad rap, the fish are the ones that need saving, not the beachgoers

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Sloth Cub Hank Says Hello at the National Zoo

At six months, the Zoo's first sloth cub in seven years made his public debut

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Scientists Use Snails to Trace Stone Age Trade Routes in Europe

Why is a snail variety found only in Ireland and the Pyrenees? DNA analysis suggests that it hitched a boat ride with early travelers

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The Surprisingly Colorful Salamanders of Appalachia

The region's cool forests and plentiful rivers make it home to more salamander species than any other part of the world

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This Castle’s Toilet Still Holds Parasites From Crusaders’ Feces

The presence of whipworm and roundworm eggs suggest that crusaders were especially predisposed to death by malnutrition

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Unborn Turtles Actively Regulate Their Own Temperature

Before hatching, a baby turtle can deliberately move between warm and cool patches within its egg--a behavior that may help determine its gender

Do cats always land on their feet? Scientists figured out the answers to this and other pressing questions once and for all.

Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet? (and Other Absurd Scientific Studies)

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Scientists figured the answers to this and other pressing questions once and for all

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The Vibrant Patterns of Portuguese Men-of-War

Beachgoers despise the stinging animals, but photographer Aaron Ansarov finds surreal beauty in them

White-tailed deer making do in a harsh winter wonderland.

Deer May Be Peeing Themselves Out of Their Favorite Winter Habitats

Special patches of trees shield deer from harsh winter weather, but deer urine stimulates growth of competitive plants in those havens

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Warming, Rising Acidity and Pollution: Top Threats to the Ocean

Since the last World Oceans Day, we've documented trash in the deep sea, sea snails with acid-weakened shells, high ocean temperatures and more

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