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Migration

Scientists now think humans settled South America in three waves.

A New Big Database of DNA From Indigenous Americans Shakes Up Scientists’ Theories About Human Settlement of South America

Genomic data provides evidence for a previously unknown wave of migration, with Indigenous groups living in central and southern Mexico spreading into South America and the Caribbean starting around 1,300 years ago

Images of shellear fish climbing up the rock face behind Luvilombo Falls

Watch These Rock-Climbing Fish Scale a 50-Foot Waterfall in the Congo Basin, the First Known Evidence of This Behavior in Africa

The tiny fish, called shellears, use microscopic hook-like growths on their fins to ascend—and they take a lot of breaks. The full climb probably takes about ten hours, according to a new study

Purple martins are long-distance migrants that nest in human-provided boxes across North America.

Purple Martins Rely on Human ‘Landlords’ to Provide Nest Boxes Each Spring. Can That Dynamic Last?

The large swallows have nested alongside human settlements for centuries. Now, the birds’ breeding success depends on caretakers who are beginning to age out of the role

A whooping crane in flight in Texas

Whooping Cranes Came Back From the Brink of Extinction. Now, New Threats Are Converging on Their Texas Wintering Grounds

Some residents along the Gulf Coast are creating habitat for the endangered birds on their properties, but development, saltwater intrusion and bird flu are putting pressure on the species’ recovery

Smithsonian magazine's picks for best photography books of 2025 include Birds of a Feather, Blue Sun and Trembling Earth.

The Best Books of 2025

The Ten Best Photography Books of 2025

Our favorite titles this year invite readers to take in the beauty of nature and our cultural rituals

Remoras hitch a ride on a humpback whale.

Watch Suckerfish Hitch a Wild Ride on Humpback Whales in Rare Video Footage

Suckerfish—also known as remoras—are harmless, but the whales didn’t seem to be fans of their hitchhiking

The American robin was among the birds most affected by light pollution.

Light Pollution Is Making Days Longer for Birds, Extending the Hours When They’ll Sing

A new study looked at millions of recordings of birdsong and found that some species in areas with more light pollution are active for almost an hour longer than average

This stone tool found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, along with six others, suggest hominins were present on the island and making tools far earlier than thought.

Cool Finds

1.04-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Found on Indonesian Island Offer Clues About Some of the Region’s Earliest Human Relatives

The toolmakers or their ancestors might have arrived on Sulawesi by clinging to vegetation during a storm, but their identities remain a mystery

Edward P. McCabe argued that Black people could not only belong in the new American territorities, but actually be in charge.

Untold Stories of American History

This Visionary African American Politician Dreamed of Creating an All-Black State in Oklahoma Territory

Edward P. McCabe petitioned Benjamin Harrison for an opportunity to show him that Black people “are men and women capable of self‑government.” When the president was unmoved, McCabe and his followers went west anyway

A February 1936 snapshot of a migrant who declined to be photographed due to the Los Angeles Police Department's "Bum Blockade"

Los Angeles’ 1936 ‘Bum Blockade’ Targeted American Migrants Fleeing Poverty and Drought During the Great Depression

The two-month patrol stopped supposedly “suspicious” individuals from crossing into California from other states. But its execution was uneven, and the initiative proved controversial

Breakthroughs in tagging technology are opening a window into the lives of smelt and other small swimmers—a shift some scientists say could transform our understanding of the underwater world’s more minute creatures.

A New Generation of Tiny Tracking Tags Offers a Fresh Look at the Lives of Little Fish

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a tag the size of a grain of rice that can also work underwater

Greenlandic sled dogs, also known as Qimmit, play while resting.

Greenland Sled Dog DNA Reveals a Story of Human Migration and Ancestry of the Unique Breed

Researchers analyzed ancient and modern genetic samples of the Greenlandic Qimmit breed to shed light on the long relationship between the Inuit and their dogs in the Arctic

A view of one of Tuvalu's islands captured in June 2023. The nation is highly threatened by climate change.

More Than One-Third of Tuvalu’s Population Has Applied for a ‘Climate Visa’ to Relocate to Australia

The world-first climate visa agreement will grant permanent residency status to 280 Tuvaluans per year as the island nation grapples with sea-level rise

These skeletons of two hunter-gatherer individuals excavated at the Checua archaeological site north of Bogotá, Colombia, helped uncover the genetic details of a mysterious population.

Ancient DNA Reveals Mysterious New Group of Humans in Colombia With No Genetic Ties to People Today

The previously undocumented lineage of hunter-gatherers seems to have disappeared around 2,000 years ago

The vision is to use the gate to create extended elephant migration routes that cut across South Africa, connecting green areas with navigation corridors that bypass cities and the rehabilitated gold mine dumps that ring Johannesburg.

In South Africa, a Smart Gate Could Help Connect Elephants’ Fragmented Habitat

An unlikely quartet’s clever contraption may allow the pachyderms to make better use of their range

Darla Zelenitsky (right) and Jared Voris (left) were part of the team that identified and named Khankhuuluu based on fossils found in Mongolia during the 1970s.

These ‘Dragon Prince’ Fossils Spent Decades in Museum Drawers. Now, They Could Rewrite the T. Rex Family Tree

Two partial skeletons housed in a Mongolia museum were reexamined by researchers and found to represent a previously unknown species

Perched on the southern edge of the picturesque Monterey Bay, Pacific Grove, California, is home to the Monarch Grove Sanctuary, one of the largest overwintering sites of monarch butterflies in the region.

The 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2025

From a barbecue capital in Texas to the site of the first offensive victory for American forces in the Revolutionary War in New York, these spots are worthy of a visit this year

Crossing roads is a dangerous part of the migratory journey for many amphibians. In Monkton, Vermont, two tunnels beneath a street are helping frogs, salamanders and other creatures reach their destinations safely, according to a new study.

Two Wildlife Tunnels Are Saving Thousands of Amphibians From Being Crushed by Cars in Vermont

New research finds a pair of underpasses installed under a road that crosses a migration corridor have led to an 80.2 percent reduction in amphibian deaths

Researchers have used genomic sequencing to trace what they’re calling the “longest migration out of Africa.”

New Research

Scientists Use DNA to Trace Early Humans’ Footsteps From Asia to South America

Over thousands of years, humans from Eurasia trekked more than 12,400 miles to eventually reach the southernmost tip of South America, a new genetic investigation suggests

This ebony figurine was found in a child's grave.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Two Rare African Figurines in 1,500-Year-Old Christian Burials in Israel

The artifacts were buried in the graves of a young woman and child, who may have converted to Christianity in Africa before traveling to the region, researchers say

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