All Stories by Susan Milius
- Animals
Shielded cells help fish ignore noise
Fish can sort out the interesting ripples from the background rush of water currents through sensors shielded in canals that run along their flanks.
- Animals
Male spiders amputate organs, run faster
Tiny male spiders of a species common to the southeastern United States routinely remove one of their two oversize external sex organs, enabling them to run faster and longer.
- Animals
Dull birds and bright ones beat so-so guys
The plumage of yearling male lazuli buntings shows signs of a rare form of evolutionary pressure called disruptive selection.
- Animals
Flex That Bill: Hummingbirds’ surprising insect-catching style
High-speed videos of hummingbirds catching insects reveal that their lower bills are unexpectedly flexible.
- Animals
Long Horns Win: Selection in action—Attacks favor spike length for lizards
A hunting bird's quirk—a tendency to impale prey on thorns—leaves a record that has allowed scientists to catch a glimpse of an evolutionary force in action.
- Animals
Wolf vs. Raven? Thieving birds may drive canines to form big packs
A previously underappreciated reason why wolf packs get so big could be the relentless food snitching of ravens.
- Plants
Sudden oak death jumps quarantine
The funguslike microbe that causes sudden oak death has turned up on nursery plants in southern California for the first time.
- Animals
The Social Lives of Snakes
A lot of pit vipers aren't the asocial loners that even snake fans had long assumed.
- Animals
Road rage keeps ants moving smoothly
Streams of ants manage to avoid traffic gridlock by a bit of strategic pushing and shoving.
- Animals
Hornbills know which monkey calls to heed
Hornbills can tell the difference between two kinds of alarm calls given by monkeys.
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Bean weevils get a kick out of mates
Breeding in stored grain throughout the tropics, bean weevils represent an unusually clear example of the evolutionary male-female arms race.
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Squirrels save for the family’s future
Some female red squirrels hoard extra food for youngsters that haven't yet been conceived.
