Nine articles explore impacts of ancient human societies on tropical ecosystems, revealing the importance of incorporating the paleosciences, social sciences and Indigenous traditional knowledge to solve contemporary environmental challenges.
The oldest and most complete fossil crab ever discovered suggests that these animals ventured onto land at least 25 to 50 million years earlier than previously thought
Giant agates found in an island on the Pacific coast of Panama prompted a study on the area’s geology to answer the question of how the Isthmus evolved and became a bridge between two continents.
Panama is a land of volcanoes, with a long history of volcanic activity.
Over half a century ago, a group of manatees from Bocas del Toro was flown into the artificial Gatun Lake to control the abundance of aquatic plants and for public health reasons. Where are they now?
Geologist Tony Coates changed the way we think about the ground under our feet. He confirmed the date when North and South America were connected at about 3 million years ago. We remember Tony not only as a skilled field geologist, but as a kind person and storyteller, who captured the imagination of scientists and non-scientists alike with his ability to spin a tale.
A Smithsonian emeritus scientist takes a field trip to some of Panama’s most important known marine fossil deposits for a quick lesson the age of the Ithsmus of Panama.
As Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, a unit of the Smithsonian Institution headquartered in Panama City, Panama, I retired in June, 2020 from the job of managing more than 400 employees, an annual budget of $35 million, and the institute’s research facilities ...
Based on clues ranging from microscopic pollen samples to massive petrified trees and larger-than-life-sized turtle and crocodile fossils, my lab pieces together millions of years of evidence to reconstruct the deep-time history of tropical ecosystems. I help to build international networks of...
Through advanced isotopic analyses, Rodnyel Arosemena seeks to understand how fish in the Caribbean and the Pacific that had a common ancestor take advantage of the resources of their different environments today.
