Apr. 27, 2023
With just a few tips and tricks, anyone can find salamanders and celebrate nature in their local area.
Apr. 17, 2023
The sliminess on amphibians is more than just goop—it’s how these animals survive. A scientist and intern from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for...
Apr. 13, 2023
Focus on the Future is a series that seeks to highlight the early career scientists who conduct research at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Learn about...
Mar. 27, 2023
Here's why eating poop can sometimes be good for animal health—and how the practice is even becoming an important part of human and animal medicine.
Apr. 13, 2022
Did you know that all animals have trillions of microscopic bacteria living inside them? These communities of microbes, known as microbiomes, play an important role in keeping animals healthy.
Dec. 20, 2019
As a research assistant for the nutrition laboratory, Jenna Pastel wears a snowsuit year-round. That’s because she spends a lot of time in a -20 degree Fahrenheit walk-in freezer located in the Zoo’s...
May. 17, 2019
DNA is the ultimate library, and scientists at SCBI’s Center for Species Survival and Center for Conservation Genomics are cataloging it as diligently as any librarians.
Mar. 05, 2019
Smithsonian scientists and partners believe genetic diversity could hold the key to saving amphibians from Ranavirus, a pathogen that is particularly devastating to frogs and toads in the U.S.
Feb. 22, 2019
Without ever laying eyes on a San Joaquin kit fox, scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation Genomics know how many of the cute creatures live in...
Nov. 30, 2018
The secret to salamanders’ survival may be in their slimy secretions. Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are swabbing salamanders in Shenandoah, looking for disease-fighting...
Mar. 07, 2018
In a new study almost 20 years in the making, Smithsonian researchers and partners report some of the strongest evidence yet of the phenomenon of speciation reversal in two lineages of common ravens.
Jan. 18, 2018
Which mammals live in Lebanon’s legendary cedar forests? Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute staff traveled to Beirut and trained students to identify animals using advanced DNA tools.
Oct. 06, 2017
These bats have been dead for more than a century, but they are finding a second “life” as a research specimen. It may sound like a spooky science fiction story, but it is actually the work of...
Jul. 13, 2017
In a shell of a paternity test story, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientists found that male desert tortoises that had been relocated from a threatened habitat to a new nearby...
May. 24, 2017
Four years after conservationists relocated 570 desert tortoises in California from a threatened habitat to a nearby location, the tortoises outwardly appeared to have successfully acclimated....
Mar. 22, 2017
Tool use by sea otters to break open well-armored food is not necessarily a family matter, according to a new study published this week by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and...