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# Research News

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The Smithsonian is one of the world’s foremost research centers in science, the arts, and the humanities. In addition to research pursued by the museums, our research centers specialize in areas of inquiry spanning the globe and the farthest reaches of the universe.
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The museum’s fossil specimen of Allosaurus fragilis is perched like a nesting bird guarding a clutch of fossilized eggs. **Credit**: USNM V 4734, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Mike Gaudaur.
Just Our Type: Smithsonian’s Dinosaur Skeleton Becomes the Scientific Standard for Prehistoric PredatorDisplayed in the National Museum of Natural History’s Deep Time Fossil Hall, the Allosaurus Fossil Is Now the Name-Bearing Specimen for the Entire Species  04.05.2024Natural History MuseumResearch News
Bluestriped grunts swim around a reef in Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Belize. Credit: Luciano Candisani /iLCP.
Adult Fish Struggle To Bounce Back in Marine Protected AreasTo Replenish Adult Spawners, Marine Protected Areas Need Strong Enforcement and Climate-Friendly Design  04.04.2024Environmental Research CenterResearch News
Arjan Mann (right), a Smithsonian postdoctoral paleontologist and former Peter Buck Fellow, and Calvin So (left), a doctoral student at George Washington University, holding the fossil skull of *Kermitops*in front of the Kermit the Frog puppet display in the “Entertainment Nation” exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

*Photo credit*: James D. Tiller and James Di Loreto, Smithsonian. Fossil skull of *Kermitops*;**USNM PAL 407585, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution. Kermit the Frog puppet; 1994.0037.01, Gift of Jim Henson Productions. From the collections at National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Researchers Name Prehistoric Amphibian Ancestor Discovered in Smithsonian Collection After Kermit the FrogDiscovery Sheds Light on the Origin of Living Frogs and Other Amphibians and Pays Homage to the Iconic Muppet  03.21.2024Natural History MuseumResearch News
Possible Epicenters of Moonquake.NASA/LRO/LROC/Smithsonian Institution
Shrinking Moon Causes Temblors and Faults in the Lunar South Polar RegionNew Paper Published by Smithsonian Scientist Emeritus Tom Watters  01.25.2024Air and Space MuseumResearch News
Perspective view of Lucus Planum part of the Medusae Fossae Formation, a series of thick deposits found along the highland-lowland dichotomy boundary on Mars. The deposit shown here in this false color, Context Camera (CTX) mosaic, is several kilometers thick.

*Credit: Caltech/JPL Global CTX Mosaic of Mars/Smithsonian Institution.*
New Study Reveals Evidence of an Ice-Rich Layered Deposit on MarsNew Paper Published by Smithsonian Scientist Tom Watters  01.18.2024Air and Space MuseumResearch News
*Hylomys peguensis* photographed in Wang Nam Khiao District, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Credit: Charoenchai Tothaisong, CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED.
Smithsonian-led Study Reveals Five New Species of Soft-Furred Hedgehogs From Southeast AsiaDNA Analysis of Museum Specimens Brought the New Hedgehogs to Light  12.21.2023Natural History MuseumResearch News
The reconstructed woolly dog shown at scale with Arctic dogs and spitz breeds in the background to compare scale and appearance; the portrayal does not imply a genetic relationship. *Credit: Karen Carr.*
Researchers, Coast Salish People Analyze 160-Year-Old Indigenous Dog Pelt in the Smithsonian’s CollectionAnalysis Conducted To Pinpoint the Origin and Sudden Disappearance of the Culturally Significant Coast Salish Woolly Dog  12.14.2023Natural History MuseumResearch News
A plate of baleen (left) and a plastic shard (right) found in the gut of the first Rice’s whale to be scientifically described.

Credit: James D. Tiller and Fred Cochard, Smithsonian.
Smithsonian To Host Symposium Focused on Endangered Rice’s Whale in Partnership With NOAA, Marine Mammal CommissionMuseum Will Display Remains of the First Scientifically Described Rice’s Whale  11.09.2023Natural History MuseumResearch NewsExhibitions
Hourglass treefrog *(Dendropsophus ebraccatus).*Amphibians, which face some of the steepest declines worldwide, saw some of the biggest benefits to living in protected lands. (Credit: Justin Nowakowski)
Protecting Lands Slows Biodiversity Loss Among Vertebrates by Five TimesEffective Government Key To Ensuring Protected Areas Safeguard Biodiversity  09.27.2023Environmental Research CenterResearch News
Roshan Patel/Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
New Technique Could Facilitate Rapid Cryopreservation of All Coral SpeciesSuccessfully Cooling and Thawing Coral Fragments Key to Global  Conservation Milestone for Vanishing Coral Reefs  08.23.2023National ZooResearch News
Human-harvested shellfish from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History research collections. (Credit: Brittany M. Hance and James D. Tiller, Smithsonian)
More Than 800 Human-Harvested Shellfish Species Tend To Be More Resistant to ExtinctionResearchers Caution That Harvests Must Be Sustainably Managed To Preserve Populations for Future Generations  08.15.2023Natural History MuseumResearch NewsAnalysis Reveals Ancestry, Possible Descendants of Enslaved and Free African AmericansScientists Analyzed DNA From an African American Burial Ground Located at a Historic Maryland Ironworks  08.03.2023Natural History MuseumResearch News
One of the largest trees on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Tropical forests pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere where it causes global warming and store it as wood. But the amount of carbon stored varies depending on tree species, age, climate conditions and other factors. Verifiable estimates of carbon stored in forests are necessary to calculate carbon credits. (Photo by Steve Paton)
Bezos Earth Fund Grants $12 Million to Smithsonian To Support Major Forest Carbon Project  07.06.2023Tropical Research InstituteResearch News
Briana Pobiner
Humans’ Evolutionary Relatives Butchered One Another 1.45 Million Years AgoCut Marks on a Fossil Leg Bone Belonging to a Relative of Modern Humans Were Made by Stone Tools and Could Be Evidence of Cannibalism  06.26.2023Natural History MuseumResearch News
Credit: Luciano Candisani
Marine Protected Areas Improve Health, Wealth of Nearby CommunitiesNew Smithsonian-Led Study Shows Protecting Marine Life Can Support Multiple U.N. Sustainable Development Goals in Mesoamerican Reef  06.22.2023Environmental Research CenterResearch News
Caravan of camels moving across the edge of the Chalbi Desert in Marsabit County, Kenya. (Photo by James Hassell, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute).
Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and Kenyan Partners Awarded $5 Million Grant To Prevent Emerging Diseases in Northern KenyaFive-Year Study of Three Animal-Borne Pathogens Aims  To Enhance Local and Global Health Security  06.06.2023Conservation Biology InstituteNational ZooResearch NewsAdministrative News
The team of scientists and interns who planted BiodiversiTREE in 2013, along with roughly 100 volunteers. From left: Susan Cook-Patton, Whitney Hoot, Caitlyn Cecil, Jess Shue, John Parker, Kim Holzer and Lada Klimesova. (Credit: Susan Cook-Patton)
Tree Species Diversity Increases Likelihood of Planting SuccessResearchers and Volunteers Planted 20,000 Tree Saplings in Reforestation Experiment; Ten Years Later, the Results Are In  05.23.2023Environmental Research CenterResearch News
LP 791-18 d, illustrated here, is an Earth-size world about 90 light-years away. The gravitational tug from a more massive planet in the system, shown as a blue disk in the background, may result in internal heating and volcanic eruptions—as much as Jupiter’s moon Io, the most geologically active body in the solar system. Astronomers discovered and studied the planet using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite along with many other observatories.
Astronomers Find Potentially Volcano-Covered Earth-Size World  05.17.2023Research News
NASA
Study Presents New Clues About the Rise of Earth’s ContinentsOne Popular Explanation for Properties That Result in Dry Land Is Unlikely According to New Experiments  05.04.2023Natural History MuseumResearch News
Research ecologist Nathan Cooper holds a radio-tagged Kirtland’s Warbler just before releasing it in The Bahamas. Credit: Tim Romano/Smithsonian
Night Flight: Tracking Data Reveal When and Why Songbirds Begin Their Massive Journeys and How They Decide To LeaveMost Birds Start Within a 69-Minute Window Just After Dusk  05.01.2023Research NewsSmithsonian’s Center for Environmental Justice at the Anacostia Community Museum Launches on Earth Day  04.07.2023Anacostia Community MuseumResearch NewsPublic Programs
A close-up ofextended polyps of an apparently healthy great star coral colony (*Montastraea cavernosa*) on a reef near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The tentacles surrounding the mouth of each polyp help trap food particles for the coral to eat. The brown coloration is from the symbiotic microalgae (Symbiodiniaceae) that live in the coral tissues. Credit: Valerie Paul
Newly Discovered Probiotic Could Protect Caribbean Corals Threatened by Deadly, Devastating DiseaseNew Treatment Offers an Alternative to Antibiotic Treatment, Reducing Risk of Resistant Pathogenic Bacteria  04.06.2023Natural History MuseumResearch NewsUnraveling a Microbial MysteryWhy Are Some Bacteria Making Environmental Mercury Even More Toxic?  04.04.2023Environmental Research CenterResearch NewsGlobal Natural History Initiative Builds Groundbreaking Database To Address 21st-Century ChallengesEffort Connects More Than a Billion Objects in Scientific Collections Across 73 Museums in 28 Countries  03.23.2023Natural History MuseumResearch NewsPages- 1
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