All Stories by Susan Milius
- Life
Climate change miscues may shrink species’ outer limits
Ecological partnerships are getting out of sync especially at high latitudes, a study of hummingbirds suggests.
- Animals
Better bird nesting also good for giant manta rays
Disrupting tree canopies on a Pacific atoll discourages big fish off shore through a long chain of ecological consequences.
- Life
Culture results when chimps get cracking
Adjacent groups in Africa follow different traditions when it comes to opening nuts.
- Life
Daytime anesthesia gives bees jet lag
Honeybees, as stand-ins for surgery patients, show drug’s aftereffects as biorhythms get out sync.
- Life
Pigeon navigation finding called off-course
Iron-containing cells that had been reported in beaks look mostly like immune system components, a new study finds.
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Mixed Results
Having the right blend of animal personalities can make or break a group
- Life
Fruit fly biorhythms differ indoors and out
Response to daily cues of real life suggest lab findings may need a second look.
- Life
Pesticide-dosed bees lose future royalty, way home
Unusual field tests reveal how common insecticides, even at nonfatal doses, can erode colonies and threaten the future of bumblebees and honeybees.
- Life
Industrial roar changes nearby plant reproduction
Trees and wildflowers register the effects as animals flee (or not) from grinding engines.
- Life
Mild winters may shift spread of mosquito-borne illness
By pushing insects to start biting mammals earlier in the year, warmer cold months could increase the transmission of a brain virus affecting people and horses.
- Life
Carnivores can lose sweet genes
A gene involved in taste detection has glitches in some, but not all, highly carnivorous mammals.
- Life
Sawfish don’t saw
Spiked snouts whack prey to the bottom, helping the predator better get its mouth around dinner.
