Our top “most wanted” lost harlequin toads include species that have been lost to science for at least a decade (and often for much longer!) and, like our top 25 “most wanted” species, may be lost for a variety of reasons. We worked with the Atelopus Survival Initiative to determine this list of lost harlequin toads. In some cases, biologists may be actively out searching—or interested in going out to search—for these species. In other cases, these species represent the kinds of compelling stories that can help raise their group’s public profile, even if nobody is out actively looking.

In a study published Sept. 28 in the journal Nature Plants, a team led by Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists found that bigger trees suffer the most during droughts, regardless of location or forest type. The team analyzed 40 droughts in 38 forests across the globe, searching for size-related patterns in growth and mortality.

The phrase "tracking" usually conjures up images of biologists hacking through the bush, using footprints or radio collars to find animals. But a team of Smithsonian scientist tracks animals another way: using an army of volunteer citizen scientists and camera-traps in a revolutionary program called eMammal.

Researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute have generated mature sperm from frozen testicular tissue for the first time. Their findings were published in PLOS ONE today. The technique, called xenografting, has been successful in several domestic species but has never been done with frozen tissue before.

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute scientists working together as part of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project opened a new safe haven for endangered amphibians today, April 8. The state-of-the-art, $1.2 million amphibian center at STRI's Gamboa field station is the largest amphibian conservation facility of its kind in the world.