All Stories by Susan Milius
- Life
Rare reptile holds clue to penis evolution
Preserved Victorian specimens reveal budding embryonic penis that disappears before adulthood.
- Animals
How architecture can make ants better workers
The right nest architecture can make harvester ants better at their job, new research shows.
- Animals
‘Whalecopter’ drone swoops in for a shot and a shower
Whale biologists are monitoring the health of whales using drones that snap photos and then swoop in to sample spray.
- Animals
Slow, cold reptiles may breathe like energetic birds
Finding birdlike air patterns in lungs of crocodilians and in more distantly related lizards raises the possibility that one-way airflow evolved far earlier than birds themselves did.
- Animals
How to drink like a bat
Some bats stick out their tongues and throbs carry nectar to their mouths.
- Animals
Jumping conchs triumph at overheated athletics
“Simple” circulatory system outdoes fancier ones in delivering oxygen for jumping conchs in simulated climate change conditions.
- Animals
No eyes, no problem for color-sensing coral larvae
Switching colors of underwater light can switch preferences for where staghorn corals choose their forever homes.
- Animals
What really changes when a male vole settles down
Bachelor prairie voles can’t tell one female from another, but saying “I do” means more than just settling down.
- Animals
Lights at night trick wild wallabies into breeding late
Artificial lighting is driving wild tammar wallabies to breed out of sync with peak season for food
- Animals
Alpine bee tongues shorten as climate warms
Pollinators’ match with certain alpine flowers erodes as climate change pushes fast evolution.
- Animals
These fish would rather walk
Slowpokes of the sea, frogfish and handfish creep along the ocean bottom.
- Animals
Dogs flub problem-solving test
Confronting a tough task, dogs are more likely than wolves to give up and gaze at a human
