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. Whazzits get their own insect order

    Insect specimens that have puzzled museum curators for decades turn out to represent a lineage so odd that scientists have named a new order just for them.

  2. European Union for Ants: Supercolony reigns from Italy to Portugal

    European researchers have documented the largest ant supercolony yet, a network of cooperating nests that stretches from Italy to the Atlantic.

  3. Animals

    Maneless lions live one guy per pride

    The male lions of Tsavo National Park don't grow manes but they're no wimps—they're the only male lions found so far that rule big prides of females alone, without help from some buddies.

  4. Animals

    Wild Hair

    The technique of studying animals through genetic analysis of their fur gained fame with a political furor over lynx, but scientists have applied the technique to many other animals.

  5. Ecosystems

    Climate Upsets: Big model predicts many new neighbors

    The biggest effects of climate change during the next 50 years may not be extinctions but major reshuffling of the species in local communities.

  6. Plants

    Trees dim the light on spring flowers

    Early spring flowers and the sugar maples they grow under use different alarm clocks to get going in the spring, which can make life hard for the flowers in northern forests.

  7. Agriculture

    Journal disowns transgene report

    The journal Nature now says it shouldn't have published a report that genetically engineered corn is leaking exotic genes into the traditional maize crops of Mexico.

  8. Animals

    Lamprey Allure: Females rush to males’ bile acid

    An unusual sex attractant has turned up in an analysis of sea lampreys, and it may inspire new ways to defend the Great Lakes against invasive species.

  9. Animals

    Real pandas do handstands

    A giant panda that upends itself into a handstand may be sending a message that it's one big bamboo-thrasher and not to be messed with.

  10. Animals

    Nephews, Cousins . . . Who Cares? Detecting kin doesn’t mean favoring them

    New tests of the amazing nose power of Belding's ground squirrels has solved a 25-year-old puzzle about doing dangerous favors for relatives.

  11. Animals

    Cold Hamsters: Wild species boosts immunity for winter

    Hamsters that have to survive winter outdoors in Siberia rev up their immune systems, including their response to psychological stress, when days grow short.

  12. Paleontology

    Did Mammals Spread from Asia? Carbon blip gives clue to animals’ Eden

    A new dating of Chinese fossils buttresses the idea than an Asian Eden gave rise to at least one of the groups of mammal species that appeared in North America some 55 million years ago.