All Stories by Susan Milius
- Life
Trees worldwide a sip away from dehydration
Plumbing systems operate on a razor’s edge, making even moist forests highly vulnerable to drought.
- Life
Rainforest katydids evolved mammal-like ears
Tiny hearing organs below insect’s knees have a structure similar to those in humans.
- Life
Seaweed-threatened corals send chemical SOS to fish
The cry for help summons allies to graze away the algal overgrowth.
- Life
Trunk in cheek, elephant mimics Korean
Novel posture lets animal imitate sounds of human words.
- Life
Extensive bird family tree rewrites some history
Unexpected pattern of evolution found across hemispheres.
- Paleontology
Earliest primate had tree-climber ankles
A creature known only from fossils of its teeth gets some more parts.
- Life
Hind wings gave four-winged dino flight control
Much-debated rear wings could have given Microraptor extra help in airborne maneuvers.
- Life
Pulsing blob makes memories sans brain
Slime molds create a GPS navigation system based on their own gooey trails.
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- Animals
Right eye required for finding Mrs. Right
Finches flirt unwisely if they can only use their left eyes.
- Life
Vampire squid no Gordon Gekko
Recently equated with greedy financiers, Vampyroteuthis infernalis is not really all that rapacious.
- Life
Birds catching malaria in Alaska
The mosquito-spread disease may be transmitted north of the Arctic Circle as climate shifts.
