All Stories by Susan Milius
- Animals
Ultrasound alarms by ground squirrels
Richardson's ground squirrels may occasionally use ultrasound when calling out in response to a disturbance.
- Animals
Why does a buddy help another male flirt?
The sidekick male in the two-bird courtship display of lance-tailed manakins has to leave when the mating starts but may reap delayed benefits in real estate and performance practice.
- Animals
Farmer ant species may have lost all its males
A fungus-growing ant may be the first ant species known to have no power of sexual reproduction.
- Animals
Jumping spiders buzz, thump when dancing
Some jumping spiders, long considered visually oriented animals, turn out to utilize seismic communication for a successful courtship.
- Animals
Hot Bother: Ground squirrels taunt in infrared
California ground squirrels broadcast an infrared signal when confronting a rattlesnake.
- Animals
Thoroughly Modern Migrants
Butterflies and moths are causing scientists to devise a broader definition of migration and this has raised some old questions in new ways.
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Psst. This fly’s ears can rival a cat’s
The unusual eardrums of a tiny parasitic fly turn out to rival cats', owls', and people's abilities to pinpoint the origin of a sound.
- Animals
Well-Tuned Bats: These animals are what they hear
Two studies of bats find that neighbors can live in virtually different worlds because their echolocation calls are tuned to detect different prey.
- Animals
Turtle Trekkers: Atlantic leatherbacks scatter widely
Satellite monitoring of leatherback turtles in the Atlantic show that these animals range widely instead of sticking to "turtle corridors."
- Animals
Red Sweat: Hippo skin oozes antibiotic sunscreen
The hippo version of sweat, which is red-orange, contains pigments that can block microbial growth and some ultraviolet light.
- Humans
Travels with the War Goddess
A botany expedition to Samoa turns out to be as much about the people as about the plants.
- Plants
Wind Highways: Mosses, lichens travel along aerial paths
Invisible freeways of wind may account for the similarity of plant species on islands that lie thousands of kilometers apart.
