The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, the only bureau of the Smithsonian Institution based outside of the United States, is dedicated to understanding biological diversity. What began in 1923 as a small field station on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal Zone has developed into one of the world's leading research institutions. STRI’s facilities provide a unique opportunity for long-term ecological studies in the tropics, and are used extensively by some 600 visiting scientists from academic and research institutions in the United States and around the world every year. The work of resident scientists has allowed STRI to better understand tropical habitats and has trained hundreds of tropical biologists.
Some content from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
Subscribe to rss feed
Removal of an offender's hand, tongue or ear: punishments described in Babylon's Hammurabi Code, depended on the nature of the crime. Published in 1771 B.C., the code set the first formal standards for business interactions. ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 2, 2021
1
633
Tropical rainforests today are biodiversity hotspots and play an important role in the world's climate systems. A new study published today in Science sheds light on the origins of modern rainforests and may help scientists ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 1, 2021
0
1573
When the Isthmus of Panama rose from the sea to connect North and South America millions of years ago, mammals could cross the bridge in both directions. But the result of this massive migration—a large proportion of mammals ...
Archaeology
Oct 5, 2020
1
473
On an expedition to the Central Andean Plateau, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and colleagues were astounded to find a huge fossil-tree buried in the cold, grassy plain. The plant fossil ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 28, 2020
68
858
On moonless nights in a tropical forest, bats slice through the inky darkness, snatching up insects resting silently on leaves—a seemingly impossible feat. New experiments at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 1, 2019
0
845
By 2050, almost 70 percent of the world's population will live in urban environments, according to the United Nations. But as cities spread, wild animals will also have to adapt. In Nature Ecology and Evolution, researchers ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 10, 2018
0
51
New evidence published in Science by Smithsonian geologists dates the closure of an ancient seaway at 13 to 15 million years ago and challenges accepted theories about the rise of the Isthmus of Panama and its impact on world ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 9, 2015
5
663
Big seeds produced by many tropical trees were probably once ingested and then defecated whole by huge mammals called gomphotheres that dispersed the seeds over large distances. But gomphotheres were probably hunted to extinction ...
Ecology
Jul 16, 2012
1
0
Recent paleontological explorations in the Tatacoa Desert in Colombia led to the recovery of the most complete skeleton of a "saber-toothed marsupial" discovered in northern South America. The specimen belongs to the species ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Oct 12, 2023
0
170
Currently, only seven species of sea turtles exist. Among them are two in the genus Lepidochelys: the olive ridley and the Kemp's ridley. Despite being among the most common sea turtles in much of the Caribbean Sea and elsewhere, ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Sep 28, 2023
0
326
