Susan Milius

Susan Milius

Life Sciences Writer

Life sciences writer Susan Milius has been writing about botany, zoology and ecology for Science News since the last millennium. She worked at diverse publications before breaking into science writing and editing. After stints on the staffs of The Scientist, Science, International Wildlife and United Press International, she joined Science News. Three of Susan's articles have been selected to appear in editions of The Best American Science Writing.

All Stories by Susan Milius

  1. Ecosystems

    Bird Dilemma: More seabirds killed when boats discard fewer fish

    A long-term study of great skuas shows that when fishing fleets discard less fish, birds that scavenge for waste make up for the loss by increasing attacks on other seabirds.

  2. Animals

    Flesh Eaters: Bees that strip carrion also take wasp young

    A South American bee that ignores flowers and collects carrion from carcasses has an unexpected taste for live, abandoned wasp young.

  3. Animals

    How blind mole rats find their way home

    The blind mole rat is the first animal discovered to navigate by combining dead reckoning with a magnetic compass.

  4. Animals

    Where’d I Put That?

    Birds that hide and recover thousands of separate caches of seeds have become a model for investigating how animals' minds work.

  5. Ecosystems

    Mangrove Might: Nearby trees boost reef-fish numbers

    Coastal mangroves give an unexpectedly important boost to reef fish.

  6. Animals

    Fish in the dark still size up mates

    Female cave fish still have their ancestral preference for a large male, even though it's too dark to see him.

  7. What’s Worth Saving?

    A fracas over a biological term could have huge consequences for conservation.

  8. Animals

    Wasps drive frog eggs to (escape) hatch

    A tree frog's eggs can match their response to the degree of danger: all-out mass action for snakes but less activity for one wasp.

  9. Animals

    Vanishing Vultures: Bird deaths linked to vet-drug residues

    The recent puzzling crash in vulture populations in Pakistan comes not from some new disease but from exposure to veterinary drug residues in livestock carcasses.

  10. Plants

    Dawn of the Y: Papaya—Glimpse of early sex chromosome

    Genetic mappers say that the papaya plant has a rudimentary Y chromosome, the youngest one in evolutionary terms yet found, offering a glimpse of the evolution of sex chromosomes.

  11. Whatever that is, it’s scary

    Tammar wallabies that have lived away from mammalian predators for more than 9,000 years still seem to recognize the appearance of danger.

  12. Kookaburra sibling rivalry gets rough

    The youngest kookaburra in the nest doesn't have a lot to laugh about.