Research News

Newsroom of the Smithsonian

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.

Researchers aboard boat
Jay Fleming/SERC
Cownose rays

SERC marine ecologist Matt Ogburn (front) and intern Claire Mueller search for bull sharks and cownose rays near Fort Pierce, Florida, in January 2018.

(Credit: Jay Fleming/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center)

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hands holding small cownose ray
Credit: Jay Fleming/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Cownose rays

Cownose rays are migratory animals that come into the Chesapeake in summer and swim to Florida for the winter.

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2 cownose rays

Underwater shot of cownose rays in a holding tank. Cownose rays migrate to Chesapeake Bay every summer to give birth to their pups and mate. (Credit: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center)

For The First Time, Biologists Track Cownose Rays to Florida and Back
Summer and Winter Habitats Pinned Down in Longest Cownose Ray Migration Study on Atlantic
08.23.2018
Environmental Research Center Research News
Aaron O'Dea in the field
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Old Species

Aaron O’Dea, paleontologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, examines marine fossils in the Dominican Republic.

Image courtesy Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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fossil bryozoan
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Old Species

A fossil cupuladriid bryozoan.

Image courtesy Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

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bryozoan colony
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Old Species

Stiff setae extend away from the edge of cupuladriid bryozoan colonies, and work in synchrony to allow the colony to “walk” over the sea floor.

Image courtesy Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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collage of cupuladriid colonies
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Old Species

Researchers collected and compared fossil cupuladriid bryozoans.

Image courtesy Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

 

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Close up of cupuladriid colony
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Old Species

A free-living cupuladriid bryozoan colony filter feeding with its many crowns of tentacles.

Image courtesy Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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Close up of individual zooids
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Old Species

Close-up of the milimetre sized individual zooids of a colony of Discoporella, a cupuladriid bryozoan colony.

Image courtesy Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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Cupuladriid colony
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Old Species

Stiff setae extend away from the edge of cupuladriid bryozoan colonies, and work in synchrony to allow the colony to “walk” over the sea floor and emerge from the sediment when buried.

Image courtesy Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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Close up of cupuladrid colony
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Old Species

Cupuladriid bryozoans form colonies composed of many individual animals called zooids.

Image courtesy Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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Old Species Learn New Tricks…Very Slowly
08.16.2018
Tropical Research Institute Research News
transverse of seed under miscroscope
Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/STRI
Tropical forest seeds

Tranversal section of Cecropia insignis seed through a scanning electron microscope.

Credit: Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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seed seen through microscope
Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/STRI
Tropical forest seeds

Apeiba membranacea seed through a scanning electron microscope.

Credit: Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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post doc doing field work
Courtesy of Rodrigo Arangua/AFP
Tropical forest seeds

Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow Paul-Camilo Zalamea recovers seeds buried in the forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama, to study the fungi that might have colonized them.

Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Arangua/AFP

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post-doc fellow doing fieldwork
courtesy of Rodrigo Arangua/AFP
Tropical forest seeds

Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow Paul-Camilo Zalamea recovers seeds buried in the forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama, to study the fungi that might have colonized them.

Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Arangua/AFP

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composite of different seeds
Carolina Sarmiento/STRI
Tropical forest seeds

Seeds of 9 different species of pioneer seeds.

Credit: Carolina Sarmiento/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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seed seen under magnification
Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/STRI
Tropical forest seeds

Scanning electron micrograph of a seed of the tropical tree Cecropia insignis, after burial for one month in the forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama.

Credit: Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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tree seed under microscope
Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/STRI
Tropical forest seeds

Hieronyma alchorneoides seed through a scanning electron microscope.

Credit: Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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tree seed under a microscope
Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/STRI
Tropical forest seeds

Guazuma ulmifolia seed through a scanning electron microscope.

Credit: Paul-Camilo Zalamea and Jorge Ceballos/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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Lone fisherman in small boat against dramatic sky
International League of Conservation Photographers / Luciano Candisani
Fish body size

A fisher from a Honduran small-scale fishery sets out on a fishing excursion. Small-scale fishers may target fishing grounds over 50 kilometers from their home port or community, making it difficult to keep track of where they are fishing.

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Two men in a bot seen from underwater
International League of Conservation Photographers / Luciano Candisani
Fish body size

Two small-scale fishers from Honduras on a fishing trip targeting reef fish on a nearby reef. Small-scale fishers share their fishing grounds with fishers from other communities.

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fish with line attached
International League of Conservation Photographers / Claudio Contreras-Koob
Yellowtail Snapper

A fisher from the Utila Cays small-scale fishery in Honduras hooks a yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus).

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Fish with measurement pins
Steven Canty / Smithsonian Institution
Yellowtail Snapper truss study

The newly published study compared the accuracy of three forensic tools for yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus) caught from three fishing grounds in Honduras. This fish was collected from the western fishing ground in the study.

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