Face of a Galapagos lizard.

Flippers or Feet? An Extinct Mammal May Have Been Replaced By Today's Sea Cows

A hippopotamus-like creature swims underwater

August 2016

Flippers or Feet?

An extinct mammal may have been replaced by today's sea cows. Dive into this evolution mystery to learn more.

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Featured Content

The Design of a Beautiful Weapon

This male dancing fiddler crab (Uca terpsichores) has built a sand “hood” at the entrance to his burrow, which he hopes will attract females to his humble abode—as if that big beautiful claw of his weren't enough!

September 2013

Shark Teeth Tell Great White Shark Evolution Story

A close-up image of a fossil shark jaw with teeth.

November 2012

Keeping An Ear Out For Whale Evolution

A 3-D reconstruction of the skull of a fin whale fetus.

March 2015

Menopausal Moms: A Mammal Mystery

An adult and juvenile killer whale frolic in the water.

May 2011

An ancient whale ancestor

Video

Evolution of Whales Animation

Are You An Educator?

At Smithsonian Ocean, we have lesson plans, activities, and resources to help you engage your students in the wonders of our oceans.

see all lesson plans

Evolution Articles

Dispatches from the Field: Treacherous stream crossings and a new fossil find

A researcher holds an arm bone from a "toothed" mysticete whale from Vancouver Island.

May 2012

Photograph of the underside of a gelatinous octopus with a bright yellow bioluminescent ring around her mouth.

Slideshow

Bioluminescent Animals Photo Gallery

A bright-green sea slug with a black background.

Audio

Sea Slugs: One Species at a Time

Meet the Tiny Bacteria That Give Anglerfishes Their Spooky Glow

October 2016

An ancient whale ancestor

Video

Evolution of Whales Animation

Menopausal Moms: A Mammal Mystery

An adult and juvenile killer whale frolic in the water.

May 2011

With Every Breath You Take, Thank the Ocean

Kelps are large, brown algae that grow along coasts around the world, especially in cooler regions.

July 2017

The Design of a Beautiful Weapon

This male dancing fiddler crab (Uca terpsichores) has built a sand “hood” at the entrance to his burrow, which he hopes will attract females to his humble abode—as if that big beautiful claw of his weren't enough!

September 2013

Tunicates—Not So Spineless Invertebrates

The Komodo National Park site in Indonesia was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1991. The site hosts "Komodo dragons" (Varanus komodoensis), a unique species that exists nowhere else in the world and is of great interest to scientists studying evolu

June 2018

Mary Rice: A Force of Nature

A woman standing in front of a barge

August 2021

Why a Tusk? The real-life unicorns of the sea and the tusks that make them famous

A narwhal breaches the surface, its tusk pointed to the sky

August 2017

An artistic rendering of an ocean landscape as it may have looked during the Archean Eon.

Slideshow

The Ocean Throughout Geologic Time, An Image Gallery