South America

A wild giant otter photographed in the Bermejo River in Argentina's El Impenetrable National Park. This is the first time the species has been seen in Argentina in more than 30 years.

Giant River Otter Spotted in Argentina for First Time in Decades

The first wild sighting of the species in Argentina since the 1980s, this surprise offers hope to conservationists looking to bring the otters back

The 516 Arouca surpasses the previous record holder—Switzerland’s 1,621-foot Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge—by about 70 feet.

World's Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge Opens in Portugal

The 1,693-foot overpass hangs 570 feet above a roaring river and wobbles as people walk across it

Decades before Teotihuacán's conquest of Tikal in 378 A.D., the two cities may have enjoyed a friendly relationship.

Were These Ancient Mesoamerican Cities Friends Before They Became Foes?

Ruins found in the Maya metropolis of Tikal appear to be an outpost of the distant Teotihuacán

A new study suggests the lush, hyper-diverse rainforests of South America were shaped by the asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs.

How the Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Spurred the Evolution of the Modern Rainforest

New evidence from fossil plants shows today’s South American rainforests arose in the wake of Earth’s fifth mass extinction

The imported parrots and scarlet macaws were mummified between 1100 and 1450 A.D.

Mummified Parrots Found in Chile Suggest Vast Pre-Hispanic Trade Network

People in South America likely kept the birds as exotic pets whose feathers were prized for their use in headdresses and hats

Retouched composite image of the mural and its surroundings

3,200-Year-Old Mural of Knife-Wielding Spider God Found in Peru

Local farmers accidentally destroyed 60 percent of the shrine complex that houses the ancient Cupisnique painting

Leafhoppers are known for devastating crops like potatoes and grapes. But they can be a benign presence within a balanced jungle ecosystem.

The Wild World of a New Nature Preserve in Ecuador

Scientists have already begun discovering new species in the hotbed of biodiversity

Only the flower on the far left is real. The rest are made of fungus.

This Fungus Makes Convincing Fake Flowers From Scratch

The yellow, flower-shaped growths lure in pollinator insects to spread the fungus’ spores

Seabird guano covers a small island off the coast of Peru.

Ancient South American Civilizations Bloomed in the Desert Thanks to Seabird Poop

Prehistoric farmers fertilized their crops with the waste, which they imported from the coast

Archaic Age people—like the ones who made these blades—arrived in the Caribbean around 6,000 years ago.

What Ancient DNA Reveals About the First People to Populate the Caribbean

New study suggests a group of migrants almost totally replaced the islands' original population

Arranged in symbolically significant ways with no clear hierarchy, the villages’ circular layouts may reflect their Indigenous inhabitants’ conceptions of the cosmos.

These Amazonian Villages Were Laid Out Like Clock Faces

Scientists used LiDAR to investigate the ruins of 14th- to 18th-century Indigenous communities in Brazil

Ancient artists created the works between 12,600 and 11,800 years ago.

Tens of Thousands of 12,000-Year-Old Rock Paintings Found in Colombia

The images—heralded by researchers as "the Sistine Chapel of the ancients"—depict animals, humans and geometric patterns

The 74-day clash found Argentina and the United Kingdom battling for control of the Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the South Atlantic.

A Brief History of the Falklands War

The latest season of Netflix's "The Crown" dramatizes the 1982 clash between Argentina and the United Kingdom

Black-and-white tegus are more resistant to cold than most reptiles because they can raise their body temperature about 50 degrees Fahrenheit above that of the environment

These Four-Foot Lizards Will Eat Anything—and They're Invading the Southeastern U.S.

Tegus first appeared in the wild of southern Florida a decade ago, but now they're in Georgia and South Carolina, too

Most people will tell you that the average temperature for the human body is 98.6 degrees. But a growing body of research is challenging that idea, suggesting peoples' bodies now run a bit cooler on average.

Even in the Bolivian Amazon, Average Human Body Temperature Is Getting Cooler

A new study finds the average body temperature among Bolivia’s Tsimane people dropped by nearly a full degree in just 16 years

The Maya built the Corriental reservoir filtration system as early as 2,185 years ago.

Researchers Uncover 2,000-Year-Old Maya Water Filtration System

The city of Tikal purified one of its reservoirs with technology comparable to modern systems

An empty Machu Picchu pictured on June 15, 2020. Travel restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic have decimated Peru's tourism industry.

Machu Picchu Reopens for a Single Stranded Tourist

Jesse Katayama, 26, waited seven months for his chance to see the mountainous 15th-century Inca settlement

Curators removed the tsantsa, or shrunken heads, from display in July.

Oxford Museum Permanently Removes Controversial Display of Shrunken Heads

Citing the exhibit's reinforcement of "racist and stereotypical thinking," the Pitt Rivers Museum moved a total of 120 human remains into storage

Sediments recovered from the Great Blue Hole, off the coast of Belize, hint at extremely severe storms during the late Classic period in Maya history.

Severe Cyclones May Have Played a Role in the Maya Collapse

Sediment cores from the Great Blue Hole reveal that a series of extreme storms hit the region after 900 A.D.

Southern elephant seals normally live in the South Atlantic, often as far south as Antarctica. These are young male Southern elephant seals from the South Shetland and Anvers islands, Antarctica.

What a 1,000-Year-Old Seal Skull Can Tell Us About Climate Change

In a new study, scientists explain how a seal native to the South Atlantic, but found in Indiana, likely swam to the middle of North America

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