A pale body half-submerged in dark water, eyelids slack, body motionless. Visitors tended to arrive at “the Swamp”—a live ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 16, 2025) — Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences recently traveled to Guam to retrieve valuable data collected over nearly a decade in deep coral reefs (>330 ...

We loved every inch of him. From snout to tail, no part of Claude escaped scrutiny from his adoring fans. Every move (or nap, as was more often the case) was cause for celebration. Even after 17 years ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 2, 2025) — It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Claude, our beloved albino alligator, has passed away at the age of 30. Claude was an iconic California ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 1, 2025) — Submissions for the California Academy of Sciences ' 2026 BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition are now open, and will be accepted through March 1, ...

Says lead author Camilo Mora of the University of Hawaii and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada: “The question of how many species exist has intrigued scientists for centuries and the answer, ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 26, 2025) — Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences and partners rediscovered a presumed-extinct black stony coral species in the Galápagos—its first sighting in 24 ...

McGuire and his Berkeley colleague, Robert Dudley, published a paper last week on the extreme evolution of hummingbirds. It’s an amazing tale that takes the small birds from one continent to another ...

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 18, 2025) — Academy researchers and partners made the first discovery of both a new genus and species of plant in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years. The ...

This new grant expands upon existing Moore Foundation funding that helped Academy researchers initiate a massive digitization project focused on California plant specimens. Academy scientists will now ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 19, 2024) — Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences described 138 new animal, plant, and fungi species in 2024, enriching our understanding of Earth’s ...