All Stories by Susan Milius
- Animals
Coquí frogs got smaller, squeakier as climate warmed
As temperatures climbed in Puerto Rico, the calls of male coquí frogs became higher pitched.
- Animals
See-through shrimp flex invisible muscle
Much of the body of a Pederson’s transparent shrimp looks like watery nothing, but it’s a superhero sort of nothing.
- Animals
Zebra stripes may be mainly defense against flies
The function of zebra stripes may not be for camouflage or cooling, a new analysis finds.
- Life
When hummingbirds fly unfriendly skies
Hummingbirds hover easily in turbulent air as long as the disturbances aren’t too wide.
- Animals
A parasitic cuckoo can be a good thing
Great spotted cuckoo chicks show that brood parasites may benefit their hosts.
- Animals
Like a boomerang, relocated python comes back again
Burmese pythons, which have invaded the Everglades, can find their way home when people move them dozens of kilometers.
- Animals
Elephants can tell men’s voices from women’s
Amboseli elephants may pick out age and gender — and even distinguish between languages — when listening to human voices.
- Ecosystems
City spiders may spin low-vibe webs
Spider webs built on human-made materials have less background bounce than those built on trees and other natural surfaces, which might shrink the arachnid’s hunting success.
- Animals
Pelican spiders: slow, safe assassins
Spiders, thank goodness, haven’t evolved assassin drones. But the specialized hunters of the family Archaeidae can kill at a distance.
- Animals
Peacocks sometimes fake mating hoots
Peacocks may have learned a benefit of deception by sounding their copulation calls even when no peahens are in sight.
- Life
Rivalry helps fruit flies maintain brainpower
In lab tests, males dim mentally after generations without competitors.
- Life
Big study raises worries about bees trading diseases
Pathogens may jump from commercial colonies to the wild.
