Isolation led white-faced
capuchin monkeys
into the Stone Age

After 14 thousand years of living in confinement and without the threat of predators, the white-faced capuchin monkeys on the Coiba National Park islands have begun to exhibit behaviors that have not been recorded in the mainland populations. For example, they are highly terrestrial and have learned to use stones as tools. Listen to doctoral student in animal behavior and former STRI fellow, Claudio Monteza, tell us this story.

Story location

Coiba

Animal Behavior Ecosystem Ecology Evolutionary Ecology Origins of Species and Societies Coibita Island blue

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Long-term consequences of coastal development as bad as an Oil Spill on Coral Reefs

Three decades after the largest recorded oil spill near coastal habitats in Panama, scientists look at how coral reefs recover from acute contamination over time

Story location

Colon

Long-term monitoring Biodiversity Marine Biology Conservation Biology Fisheries and Marine Conservation Ecosystem Ecology Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Punta Galeta Punta Galeta blue Hector M. Guzman

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Microplastics are new homes
for microbes in the Caribbean

Only about 1% of marine plastic debris is recovered at the ocean’s surface, meaning the other 99% likely either sinks or is consumed by marine organisms

Story location

Panama

Fisheries and Marine Conservation Ecosystem Ecology Marine Biology Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Bocas del Toro blue Rachel Collin

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Jaguars could prevent a
not-so-great American
Biotic Exchange

Urban and agricultural development and deforestation along the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor might be generating a new passageway for invasive species adapted to human disturbance.

Story location

Eastern Panama, Darien

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Journalists congress, Long Ago receives scientific award, Jeff Hall talk at water security event and more

Farewell Bob Dressler, Long Ago receives scientific award, Jeff Hall talk at water security event, Archaeology talk in Veracruz

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Learning to live
without oxygen

In Bocas del Toro’s Caribbean waters in Panama, a STRI postdoctoral fellow asks how marine life responds to low oxygen levels and higher temperatures in the ocean

Story location

Bocas del Toro
Text by Leila Nilipour, STRI

Marine Biology Global Change Chemical Ecology Conservation Biology Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Bocas del Toro blue Rachel Collin

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Mysterious Larvae Discovered
in Panama’s Two Oceans

These ghostly larvae float freely in seawater, while their parents live on the sea floor and usually go undetected. Genetic studies of larvae provide clues that there are more species to be discovered

Story location

Panama

Marine Biology Developmental Biology Taxonomy Biodiversity Natural History Molecular Genetics and Genomics Zoology Origins of Species and Societies Naos blue Rachel Collin

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Fossil crab reveals a new
branch in the tree of life

By taking on characteristics from another, younger stage in its life-cycle, this fossil crab was probably able to adapt to new conditions.

Story location

Colombia and the U.S.

Paleontology and Paleobiology Evolutionary Biology Developmental Biology Biodiversity Zoology Taxonomy Origins of Species and Societies CTPA blue Carlos Jaramillo

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The glue that holds the coral reef together
threatened by global change

Rapid increases in ocean acidity puts crustose coralline algae in a growth predicament, research by a Smithsonian marine scientist shows.

Story location

Bocas Del Toro, Panama

Global Change Marine Biology Fisheries and Marine Conservation Biodiversity Ecosystem Services Ecology Connections in nature: Plants, Animals, Microbes and Environments Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Bocas del Toro Bocas Del Toro blue

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Marine expedition launched
from new Coibita station

To mark the beginning of an era in marine research in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, Smithsonian scientists launched numerous long-term marine ecosystem studies in Panama’s Coiba National Park.

Story location

Coiba, Panama
Story and photos by Sean Mattson

Marine Biology Biodiversity Exploration Chemical Ecology Conservation Biology Fisheries and Marine Conservation Geography and Biogeography Long-term monitoring Microbial Ecology Connections in nature: Plants, Animals, Microbes and Environments Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Coibita Island blue Owen McMillan

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