https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Tropical trees are better neighbors than trees in temperate forests, according to a study published in the journal Nature by researchers from 29 different institutions including the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and the ForestGEO global network of forest monitoring sites. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tropical-trees-neighborly-equator.html Plants & Animals Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:40:01 EDT news695044077 In 2000, a group of STRI botanists collected samples of all the plants from the genus Clusia they could find in Panama to find out how the different species in this group are related. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-panama-tree-species-years-endangered.html Ecology Sat, 14 Mar 2026 05:32:45 EDT news692685122 With a human population of 8.3 billion people worldwide and millions facing malnutrition, food security is something to think about. But imagine if the ocean could help with that. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-coral-reef-fish-recovery-boost.html Ecology Sun, 04 Jan 2026 12:21:44 EST news686751657 We have all been in that situation: The moving boxes are large and heavy, but we are determined to carry them all in one trip, even if that means we can't see where we're going. In the tropics, some leafcutter ants face a similar challenge: carrying a load that is several times their body weight. To make matters even more difficult, carrying oversized weights may create "blind spots" when leafcutter ants transport material on a trail. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-leafcutter-ants-truck-drivers.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Oct 2025 14:27:04 EDT news679066022 If you happen to be walking in the forests of Panama, you might just come across a bug that will wave at you, which scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) have been studying for a while. The matador bug (Bitta alipes) carries striking, reddish "flags" on its hind legs and performs an intricate leg-waving display. But the reason these bugs perform this behavior has remained a mystery—until now. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-mysterious-flag-behavior-tropical-bug.html Plants & Animals Wed, 10 Sep 2025 15:20:03 EDT news676736401 The natural phenomenon of upwelling, which occurs annually in the Gulf of Panama, failed for the first time on record in 2025. A study led by scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) indicates that the weakening of the trade winds was the cause of this event. This finding highlights the climate's impact on fundamental oceanic processes and the coastal communities that depend on them. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-years-panama-deep-cold-ocean.html Earth Sciences Mon, 01 Sep 2025 15:50:19 EDT news675960614 A team of researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is digitizing images of pollen from more than 18,000 plant species from the tropics. The work is published in the journal PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-digitize-pollen-species.html Plants & Animals Wed, 06 Aug 2025 05:40:02 EDT news673677063 Toddlers can name a few animals. Older kids group animals into categories (birds, fish). And teenagers can sketch a rough tree of life. But when 16 grown-up biologists—five of them affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute—try to explain why colorful reef fishes called hamlets are different species, it gets complicated. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-genetic-caribbean-hamlets-traditional-definitions.html Plants & Animals Mon, 04 Aug 2025 17:07:46 EDT news673546060 A study of 7000-year-old exposed coral reef fossils reveals how human fishing has transformed Caribbean reef food webs: as sharks declined by 75% and fish preferred by humans became smaller, prey fish species flourished—doubling in numbers and growing larger. This unprecedented look into prehistoric reef communities shows how the loss of top predators cascaded through the entire food web, shifting the balance among coral reefs. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-year-fossilized-reefs-reveal-human.html Ecology Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:50:09 EDT news670600200 Have you ever wondered how city life affects animals like frogs? A new study reveals that urban Túngara frog tadpoles develop faster—but end up being smaller—than tadpoles from forests, probably resulting in smaller adults. This might be an adaptation to warmer urban puddles with fewer predators or to constantly changing environmental conditions in the city. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-small-big-city-urban-tngara.html Plants & Animals Mon, 30 Jun 2025 15:50:03 EDT news670517338 When Victoria Glynn came to Panama to study the effects of extreme ocean temperatures on coral reefs at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) as a pre-doctoral fellow in professor Rowan Barrett's lab at McGill University, she drew corals to explain her work to kids. Now, her illustrations help broader audiences reach an "Ah ha!" moment as she explains how corals from more variable ocean environments may be better equipped to survive rising ocean temperatures than corals from more stable environments—in a paper published in Current Biology. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-coral-art-secrets-reef-resilience.html Plants & Animals Fri, 06 Jun 2025 11:23:04 EDT news668427781 Botanists José Luis Fernández-Alonso, of the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, and Ernesto Campos, research technician at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, have named six new tree species based on comparisons made among collections of dried plant specimens from across the Neotropics. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-tree-species-panama-colombia.html Plants & Animals Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:40:03 EST news654194401 In the fight to mitigate climate change and deforestation in the tropics, timber plantations have emerged as a promising strategy for reforesting degraded land and connecting patches of natural forest. Often, these are species with commercial value for landowners but are not native to the region. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-timber-plantations-urbanized-areas-movement.html Ecology Mon, 29 Jul 2024 12:52:44 EDT news641476359 Slowing down the pace may not be common in academia, but it could lead to better science to support our planet through the current climate, biodiversity and social justice crises. This is one approach suggested by a diverse group of marine conservation scientists who were brought together in 2021 by the COMPASS Leaders for Sea Change Science Communication program. In a new paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the co-authors consider three pathways to better connect with the places they study. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-centering-relationships-people-critical-science.html Environment Mon, 03 Jun 2024 16:43:04 EDT news636651781 In the quaint town of Gamboa, nestled near the Panama Canal, a team of scientists embarked on a unique endeavor: attaching red flags onto the legs of crickets and observing how birds respond to them. These eye-catching flags were borrowed from the matador bug (Anisoscelis alipes), an insect renowned for the colorful adornments on its hind legs. This trait has captivated Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow Ummat Somjee for several years, particularly given the matador bug's tendency to wave them. The persisting question: Why does it wave its colorful hind legs? https://phys.org/news/2024-04-matador-bugs-red-flags-ward.html Plants & Animals Wed, 03 Apr 2024 15:43:04 EDT news631377782 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 Anachlysictis gracilis, which is part of a group of extinct predatory mammals known as sparassodonts, that lived in South America during the Cenozoic, after the extinction of the dinosaurs. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-extraordinary-fossil-reveals-weight-diet.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:12:03 EDT news616327921 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, little is known about their history or evolution. The remains of a turtle shell recently found on Panama's Caribbean coast represent the oldest fossil evidence of these turtles ever found. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-turtle-capsule-dna-ancient-shell.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 28 Sep 2023 16:04:01 EDT news615135839 Between 6.4 and 5.8 million years ago, most of the land bridge that connects North and South America had already emerged and the channels connecting both Pacific and Atlantic oceans were shallow. Recent fossil discoveries in the northern Panama Canal area suggest that marine species interchange persisted across these shallow waters during the final stages of formation of the isthmus. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-marine-fossils-unearth-story-panama.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 13 Jul 2023 03:46:01 EDT news608438754 To achieve tangible solutions for ocean conservation, we should listen to the people who are most affected by the current problems facing the ocean: the people in the tropics, say 25 co-authors of "Engaging the Tropical Majority to Make Ocean Governance and Science more Equitable and Effective," a new paper in the journal npj Ocean Sustainability. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-tropical-perspective-marine.html Environment Thu, 06 Jul 2023 16:47:37 EDT news607880854 The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama partnered with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in India to develop and validate a new test for chytridiomycosis strains, offering new insights into a wildlife disease that caused dramatic declines of over 500 amphibian species and the extinction of 90 others. Their novel assay, published in the journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, identified previously undetected Indian strains, and successfully detected strains from other parts of the world. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-scientists-global-south-track-ongoing.html Ecology Wed, 24 May 2023 01:58:05 EDT news604112275 Within the framework of the Our Ocean Conference on Mar. 2-3, 2023 in Panama City, Panama's President Laurentino Cortizo and Minister of Environment Milciades Concepción added 36,058 square miles to the Banco Volcán marine protected area in the Caribbean. During the last two decades, researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) along with local and international collaborators have offered much of the science backing Panama's successful proposals to create the MPA's bringing more than 50% of its ocean waters under some form of management or protection. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-panama-oceans-expansion-banco-volcn.html Ecology Fri, 03 Mar 2023 01:58:54 EST news597031126 Male peacocks shake elaborate trains—a dazzling mating display—and male peacock spiders also dance, showing off brightly-colored abdomens. Nature's most bizarre and conspicuous displays often evolved to attract mates. But when researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) began to study the matador bug, an insect that waves its flag-like, brightly-colored legs, they found something unexpected. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-matador-bugs-flag-behavior-sex.html Evolution Mon, 06 Feb 2023 13:09:53 EST news594911385 The largest fish in the ocean is a globe-trotter that can occasionally be found basking in the coastal waters of the Panamanian Pacific. However, little more is known about the habits of the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) in the region. By satellite-tracking the whereabouts of 30 of them, scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life and the University of Panama explored the factors influencing this endangered species' behavior. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-satellite-tracking-whale-sharks-insight-migratory.html Ecology Sat, 02 Jul 2022 02:38:16 EDT news575948279 On any given day between 2016 and 2019, Heather Stewart could be found snorkeling in between mangroves in the Bocas del Toro archipelago along Panama's Caribbean coast. For years she visited these forests at the interface between land and sea, trying to understand what drove corals to grow inside them. Corals and mangroves often grow near each other in tropical coastal environments, but finding them sharing the same habitat appeared to be an evolutionary trait that deserved an explanation. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-co-existing-mangrove-coral-habitats-global-classification.html Plants & Animals Wed, 15 Jun 2022 15:35:04 EDT news574526101 Last year, Panama expanded the Cordillera de Coiba marine protected area from 17,223 to 67,908 square kilometers (6,650 to 26,219 square miles). On April 27th, an international scientific expedition made up of researchers and students from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), MigraMar, the International Maritime University of Panama (UMIP), the University of Costa Rica and the Ministry of the Environment will set sail on the first mission to explore the seamounts of this protected area. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-scientific-panama-unexplored-cordillera-de.html Ecology Tue, 26 Apr 2022 04:00:41 EDT news570164429 Sleeping in a car may be a necessity for scientists conducting fieldwork. In 2020, a team of young researchers spent two nights sleeping in their car in the mountains of western Panama. The second time it was not intentional: their car broke down in El Copé, in Coclé province, and they had to wait for a tow truck. At least a woman from the area took pity on them and offered them fried plantains and coffee. A few years and a pandemic later, the study resulting from those adventures was published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, revealing clues about the natural history of an unusual plant that only exists in Panama. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-mystery-unusual-panamanian-dispersal.html Ecology Fri, 25 Mar 2022 15:53:26 EDT news567442400 The mysteries of underwater life have long been a source of inspiration for writers, filmmakers, and marine biologists. But scientists interested in understanding the biological diversity of the oceans are often limited by the relatively shallow depths accessible via scuba diving. Small research submersibles, while expensive, allow for the exploration of much deeper waters. A new paper co-authored by researchers at the Smithsonian's Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), the University of Washington and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras describes the important contribution of submersibles to increasing our knowledge about the diversity of deep-reef fishes in the Greater Caribbean. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-decade-deep-reef-exploration-greater-caribbean.html Ecology Fri, 04 Mar 2022 14:01:10 EST news565624868 Between 2010 and 2011, two research expeditions sponsored by the Spanish government exploring the biodiversity of benthic organisms—those living on the ocean floor—on Central America's Pacific and Caribbean coasts, came across a new shark species. The Squatina mapama n. sp., collected off the Caribbean coast of Panama became the first record of an angel shark from the Central American Caribbean. A new paper co-authored by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute staff scientist, D. Ross Robertson, described and named it. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-squatina-mapama-species-panama-angel.html Ecology Mon, 24 Jan 2022 12:16:27 EST news562248981 One afternoon, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in Panama, a bored teenager with a slingshot and a clay ball accidentally shot entry and exit holes in a Cecropia tree trunk. These are "ant-plant" trees, which famously cooperate with fierce Azteca ants; the trees provide shelter and food to the ants, and in exchange the ants defend their leaves against herbivores. The next morning, to the student's surprise, the Azteca alfari ants living within the Cecropia trunk had patched up the wound. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-accidental-tree-wound-reveals-symbiotic.html Plants & Animals Mon, 03 Jan 2022 14:50:25 EST news560443822 New research, published in Scientific Reports by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) postdoctoral fellow Karina Chavarria and colleagues, shows that bacterial communities in streams adjacent to young secondary forests recover to resemble those of mature forest streams in as little as a decade after cattle has been removed from the land, and that these communities are robust throughout the year. https://phys.org/news/2021-11-secondary-forests-fresh-sources-degraded.html Environment Fri, 05 Nov 2021 15:54:54 EDT news555346487