wildlife

"AquaReinas," or costumed mermaid messengers with the Mermaid Society of Texas, participate in the 2022 Mermaid Capital of Texas Fest parade in San Marcos, Texas.

The Texas City Where Mermaids Inspire River Conservation

“Aquamaids” were once the stars at an amusement park in San Marcos. Now, they are making a comeback to help the environment

A monk seal in southern Greece. Females tended to give birth on beaches before human hostility drove them into hiding.

The Mediterranean Monk Seal Is Making a Comeback

The endangered sea creature, known for its reclusive nature, has re-emerged out of the shadows

A sadhill crane flies over the San Luis Valley.

Planet Positive

From stories about rebounding species to dispatches about green innovations, <em>Smithsonian</em> magazine shares environmental practices that are working.

An artist&rsquo;s reconstruction of Rhinesuchus, a rhinesuchid temnospondyl

Paleontologists Uncover Fossil Impressions of Giant, Alligator-Like Amphibians

The find reveals how the creatures swam and relaxed in prehistoric waterways

Top: The citizen science photo of an alleged juvenile goblin shark found on the beach of Anafi Island in Greece. Bottom: A juvenile female goblin shark found near Shimizu, Japan.

Were Scientists Duped by a Plastic Shark Toy?

Researchers withdrew a report of a rare and elusive goblin shark spotted in Greece after their peers raised concerns about the alleged discovery

Zebrafish experience what&#39;s known as &quot;emotional contagion&quot; and react when their peers are afraid.

Fish May Sense Each Other's Fear

Zebrafish respond when their peers act afraid, an ability regulated by the same hormone that drives human empathy, a new study shows

Snow petrels were among the seabird species that did not reproduce in Antarctica&#39;s Dronning Maud Land region in 2021-22.

Strong Snowstorms Prevented Tens of Thousands of Antarctic Seabirds From Breeding

With their nesting sites buried under a blanket of snow, some petrels and skuas made no attempts at reproducing in December 2021 and January 2022

Many of the reptiles that thrived during the Triassic were crocodile relatives that dinosaurs would later mimic through evolutionary happenstance, such as Postosuchus (back) and Desmatosuchus (front).

Dinosaurs Were Evolutionary Copycats of These Long-Lost Look-Alikes

Before T. rex and ankylosaurus ruled the Earth, a host of similar Triassic reptiles reigned

Wandering albatross pair in courtship in South Georgia. Researchers have found some birds have bolder personalities than others.

Animal Personalities Can Trip Up Science

Individual behavior patterns may skew studies, but researchers have a solution to this problem

A puffin in soft light surrounded by faint raindrops.

See 15 Amazing Wildlife Images From the Sony World Photography Awards

The contest showcases the work of some of the planet’s best photographers

The adaptive lighting cooked up by Camilla Rathsach and Mette Hvass would automatically adjust to the availability of moonlight, tweaking this church&rsquo;s lighting automatically to balance visibility and darkness. This mock-up shows how the church would be lit under a full moon.

This Danish Church Is a Beacon for How to Protect Wildlife From Artificial Light

A proposed design looks to automatically adjust the exterior lighting on the Anholt Island building to the moonlight

A cockatoo uses a sharp stick to poke through a membrane before using a scoop to fish out the cashew inside the box.

Like Humans and Chimps, Cockatoos Can Use a Set of Tools to Get a Meal

In lab experiments, the brainy birds carried a stick and scooped with them to get at cashews kept in a box

A screenshot of an interactive walkthrough of the Hantan River in Korea

See Google Street View Images of Korean Demilitarized Zone

Established in 1953, the off-limits area has become a haven for plants and wildlife

Sargassum is not a new problem. But the mass of floating seaweed in the Atlantic Ocean is getting bigger, according to scientists.

A 5,000-Mile-Wide Mass of Seaweed Is Heading for Florida and Mexico

Known as sargassum, the algae can hurt tourism as it piles up on beaches and starts to rot

A male (silver) and female (brown) common European adder meet prior to mating. Scientists are just beginning to understand female sexual anatomy in snakes.

Why Did Scientists Wait So Long to Study the Snake Clitoris?

The delay is representative of a major problem in biology: Female and intersex animals are understudied compared with their male counterparts

Many animals like corals release eggs and sperm into the water on just the right nights of the month.

How Lunar Cycles Guide the Spawning of Sea Creatures

Researchers are starting to understand the biological rhythms that sync worms and corals to phases of the moon

Tourists on a cruise spotted a rare, giant phantom jellyfish&nbsp;in Fournier Bay of Anvers Island off the Antarctic Peninsula last year.

How Vacationers on Antarctic Cruises Are Filling in Scientific Gaps

From ships and submarines, citizen scientists can access remote areas ripe for new discoveries. But does the research make up for the climate impact?

Scientists at&nbsp;North-Eastern Federal University in Russia conducted a necropsy, or animal autopsy, of the bear in late February.

Researchers Examine 3,500-Year-Old Brown Bear Preserved in Siberian Permafrost

Found in 2020, the animal was originally declared to be a cave bear from the Ice Age

Thor rests in Scarborough Harbor in England on December 31, 2022.

The Unusual European Journey of Thor the Walrus

It's rare to see one of these massive marine mammals in Western Europe, but Thor spent several months delighting crowds in multiple countries

Giant lacewings date back to the Jurassic Era and hadn&#39;t been seen in eastern North America for more than 50 years, until this discovery.

Rare Jurassic-Era Insect Discovered at Arkansas Walmart

The species had not been recorded in eastern North America for more than 50 years—and never documented in the state

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