/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/83/a4/83a483bc-733c-4ea3-b71f-893fa8b76d0f/julaug2023_a01_endangerebandicoot.jpg "Australia’s Bandicoots: A Remarkable Tale of Survival | Science")
Upon arriving in Australia, the British colonists were not particularly impressed with the small and slender marsupials known as bandicoots. In 1805, one naturalist described them as having an excessively long muzzle, giving them an air of stupidity. They even nicknamed one type the “zebra rat” due to its black-striped rump. Despite their appearance, the …
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/00/b7/00b7300b-1cb4-4fb1-9d2f-1d6951f10521/opener-aprmay2023_e06_wildfires.jpg "Science: California Embraces the Strategy of Combating Wildfires with Controlled Burns")
Photographs and accompanying text were provided by Andria Hautamaki. Jeff Greef had to evacuate his Northern California cabin when the Dixie Fire threatened the area. He had watched the sky darken with smoke and had taken precautions such as building the cabin with fire-resistant materials and thinning the surrounding forest. The Plumas Underburn Cooperative is …
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/11/82/11827116-b08f-48e4-b846-64896b0adfed/aprmay2023_a01_endangeredmonkseal.jpg "Science Reveals the Revival of the Mediterranean Monk Seal")
By Jennie Rothenberg Gritz Photograph by Bruno D’Amicis The Mediterranean monk seal begins its life in a cave. Even after it grows to hunt and mate in open water, the seal sticks to its monkish ways. These retiring creatures—the only seal species in the Mediterranean region—are among the scarcest marine animals in the world, with …