Profile: Anthony Coates
Sea of fossils
August 09, 2013
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.
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.
Some beetles have a rather inventive, if unsavory, way of fending off predators.
20-million-year-old fossil seeds shed light on origins of plant biodiversity in Panama.
Fossil reefs from around the Caribbean show how biologically rich these ecosystems once were — and provide goalposts for conservationists hoping to restore them.
It is much faster to learn to recognize a new prey item from a neighboring species, than to learn by trial and error.
About 66 million years ago, a radical change on the Earth filled tropical forests with flowers. A new catalog of fossil pollen grains may hold an explanation.
A whale shark named Anne swam all the way across the Pacific from Coiba National Park in Panama to the Marianas Trench.
Smithsonian scientists who documented massive mortality of corals and reef organisms meticulously studied one of the apparent causes: oxygen deficiency. A Smithsonian paleobiologist asks if the recent fossil record shows signs of similar hypoxia events.
Isla Boná in the Gulf of Panama is an understudied breeding ground for thousands of tropical seabirds. Marine biologist Héctor Guzmán’s newest research program will contribute to understanding their ecology and the conservation of the island for birds and birders alike.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published a newly revised version of The pollination of cultivated plants: A compendium for practitioners, edited by STRI staff scientist, David Roubik. Its release this year coincides with the first World Bee Day, on May 20 and contributes to awareness of the importance of pollinators for food security and conservation and direct steps to save them.