Recently a team of scientists working at the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute in Panama, decided to try and learn for the first time just which body parts the gliding ant C. atratus uses to steer as they glide. [...more]
For the first time researchers from the Smithsonian, South Dakota State University and the University of Nebraska described the immature stages of the switchgrass moth, first collected in Denver in 1910. [...more]
A diminutive bat with cinnamon-brown coloring collected in 1979 in Ecuador by mammalogist Don Wilson of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History represents a new species a recent paper in the journal “Mammalian Biology” has revealed. [...more]
The turkey has become synonymous with Thanksgiving in the United States. But when exactly where turkeys first domesticated? And where? Bruce Smith, senior archeologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has the answers. [...more]
The Hope Diamond, the world’s most famous diamond, is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in a new temporary setting, “Embracing Hope.” The new setting was designed by Harry Winston Inc., and unveiled and placed on public display on Thursday, Nov. 18. The event marks the 50th anniversary of the Hope [...] [...more]
Although the La Loma tree frog, Hyloscirtus colymba, is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is the first to successfully breed this species. [...more]
Known as one of the greatest racehorses of his day and sire to more winning horses than any other American thoroughbred before or since, this Smithsonian loan returned the legendary Lexington's remains to the town of his birthplace some 160 years after he was born. [...more]
This photo shows Smithsonian naturalist Robert Kennicott around 1860, during his first expedition north through Canada and into Russian America (the Alaskan territory). He is dressed in the kind of clothes worn by French Canadian trappers, whose paths he followed. This photograph was made as a carte-de-visite, a calling card given to friends and visitors. [...] [...more]
Scientists from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center have found that fledgling catbirds in suburban habitats are extremely vulnerable, with almost 80 percent killed by predators before they reach adulthood. Almost half of the deaths were connected to domestic cats. The team studied catbird nests in 3 suburban neighborhoods in Maryland: Spring Park, Opal Daniels Park, and Bethesda. Read more about this study by clicking here. (Catbird photo by Gerhard Hofmann)
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