Back from the dead
Tropical tree fern repurposes its dead leaves
February 26, 2024
A species of tree fern found only in Panama uses ‘zombie leaves’ or reanimated dead leaf fronds, and turns them into root structures that feed the mother plant.
A species of tree fern found only in Panama uses ‘zombie leaves’ or reanimated dead leaf fronds, and turns them into root structures that feed the mother plant.
For six days, archeology technician Aureliano Valencia led a workshop on how to reconstruct pre-Columbian ceramics.
What started as a student summer job, became Anibal Velarde’s life’s work. Over fifty years later, he is still at the Smithsonian
This research expands knowledge about the archaeological ceramics of the Gran Cocle culture at the Cerro Juan Diaz Archaeological Site, which spans a period of occupation from 200 BC to 1550 AD and is one of the largest pre-Hispanic communities in central Panama.
Individuals recovered at the archaeological site of Cerro Juan Díaz shed more light on how the local communities buried and honored their dead.
I specialize in forest ecosystem ecology, global change ecology, and climate protection through forest conservation. My approach combines data synthesis and analysis, quantitative ecology, and field research and focuses on understanding how climate — and climate change — shape ecosystems, and...
A cutting-edge molecular lab
and launching point to the
Eastern Tropical Pacific
Research in my lab examines the long and complex history of peoples and cultures in the Americas, and how these ancient societies developed both by changing, and being transformed by, their surrounding environment. My lab uses zooarchaeology, or the identification of animal bones, shells, and...
Exploring the tropical peoples
and ecosystems of the past
To better explain how deer populations have declined throughout tropical America, one researcher delves into a collection of 2,500 deer bones at the Smithsonian archaeology lab in Panama.