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. Animals

    How to drink like a bat

    Some bats stick out their tongues and throbs carry nectar to their mouths.

  2. Animals

    Jumping conchs triumph at overheated athletics

    “Simple” circulatory system outdoes fancier ones in delivering oxygen for jumping conchs in simulated climate change conditions.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. Animals

    Alpine bee tongues shorten as climate warms

    Pollinators’ match with certain alpine flowers erodes as climate change pushes fast evolution.

  7. Animals

    These fish would rather walk

    Slowpokes of the sea, frogfish and handfish creep along the ocean bottom.

  8. Animals

    Dogs flub problem-solving test

    Confronting a tough task, dogs are more likely than wolves to give up and gaze at a human

  9. Animals

    Loss of vision meant energy savings for cavefish

    Novel measurement feeds idea that tight energy budgets favored vision loss in cavefish.

  10. Animals

    Invading Argentine ants carry virus that attacks bees

    The first survey of viruses in the globally invasive Argentine ant brings both potentially bad and good news.

  11. Animals

    Invading Argentine ant hordes carry a virus that attacks bees

    Invasive Argentine ants may be reservoirs for a virus menacing honeybees — and for previously unknown virus.

  12. Animals

    When octopuses dance beak to beak

    The larger Pacific striped octopus does sex, motherhood and shrimp pranks like nobody else.