Canal grass
Smithsonian scientist clears up Panamanian urban legend
November 30, 2020
How did canal grass arrive in Panama? STRI staff scientist Kristin Saltonstall compared the DNA of sugar cane relatives from around the world to find out.
How did canal grass arrive in Panama? STRI staff scientist Kristin Saltonstall compared the DNA of sugar cane relatives from around the world to find out.
Annette Aiello has a natural history radar system that most of us lack. An observation of an insect exoskeleton on a potted plant may lead to the identification of a new insect species.
“Her unification of developmental plasticity and genetics is a huge advance in our understanding of evolution. Her decades-long work with tropical social wasps focusing on careful field observation is testimony to what a careful observer of natural history can contribute to evolutionary biology.”-the Linnean Society
Sweat bees navigate through dark tropical forests guided by canopy patterns.
What makes a successful invasion? What keeps invaders out? Are some geographic locations more vulnerable to invasion than others?
Bees and their pollen reveal the environment of the first Cathedral on the American mainland, as do photos by preeminent landscape photographer, Eadweard Muybridge.
Young entomologist Sol Parra uses gene editing technology to understand how color pattern mimicry evolves in butterflies.
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?
Mutually beneficial relationships are common, but what happens when one partner stops enforcing the other’s good behavior?
Join Brazilian biologist, Bruno de Medeiros, as he explores mysterious trade-offs between plants and their pollinators and why they are important to the Brazilian economy and ecosystems.