Deep in the Brazilian Amazon River basin, scientists led by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History fish research associate C. David de Santana discovered a small, river-fed lake filled with more than 100 adult ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 14, 2021
0
961
Some 9,000 years ago, corn as it is known today did not exist. Ancient peoples in southwestern Mexico encountered a wild grass called teosinte that offered ears smaller than a pinky finger with just a handful of stony kernels. ...
Biotechnology
Dec 14, 2020
11
7327
Since the first bird evolved more than 150 million years ago, its descendants have adapted to a vast range of ecological niches, giving rise to tiny, hovering hummingbirds, plunge-diving pelicans and showy birds-of-paradise. ...
Ecology
Nov 11, 2020
0
76
Where are small marine animals most vulnerable to getting eaten? The answer has big consequences for coastal ecosystems, where most of the world's fishing takes place, since predators can radically change underwater communities. ...
Ecology
Oct 26, 2020
0
40
For hundreds of thousands of years, early humans in the East African Rift Valley could expect certain things of their environment. Freshwater lakes in the region ensured a reliable source of water, and large grazing herbivores ...
Archaeology
Oct 21, 2020
4
403
Changes in ocean chemistry and temperature have had a dramatic effect on the diversity of corals and sea anemones, according to a team of scientists who have traced their evolution through deep time. A new study, published ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 31, 2020
1
510
John Steinbeck wrote Log From the Sea of Cortez in 1951, his chronicle of an expedition with marine biologist Ed Ricketts along the coast of California and Mexico. Ricketts named several of the many new marine animals they ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 11, 2020
0
204
Deep in the ocean, where sunlight barely reaches, Smithsonian scientists and a team of collaborators have discovered one of the blackest materials known: the skin of certain fish. These ultra-black fish absorb light so efficiently ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 16, 2020
0
12
In warm coastal waters around the world, swimmers can often spot large groups of jellyfish pulsing rhythmically on the seafloor. Unless properly prepared with protective clothing, it is best to steer clear of areas that Cassiopea, ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 13, 2020
1
344
At 100 feet long and weighing more than 100 tons, blue whales are the largest creatures to have evolved on the planet. Other whales, like killer whales, are larger than most terrestrial animals but pale in comparison to the ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 12, 2019
1
141
