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. Life

    Wealth and ambition

    A week in fancier digs inspires rats to seek richer rewards.

  2. Life

    Getting dissed could be partly genetic

    In marmot social networks, victimization may be to some degree heritable.

  3. Life

    Mammal size maxed out after dinos’ demise

    Opening new ecological niches led to a worldwide boom in size, up to a point.

  4. Animals

    Island orangs descend from small group

    Bornean apes went through a genetic bottleneck when isolated during an ancient glaciation.

  5. Animals

    Cats drink using lap-and-gulp trick

    Felines imbibe by pulling up a column of fluid and then snatching a bit of it before it splashes back down.

  6. Animals

    Acidification may halve coral class of 2050

    Already shown to be a threat to established reefs, experiments show that changing ocean chemistry also threatens the establishment and survival of larvae.

  7. Life

    Will groom for snuggles

    Sooty mangabey and vervet monkey mothers charge a price, dictated by market forces, that other females must pay to touch their babies.

  8. Life

    Bee mystery not over yet

    News reports overstate recent findings.

  9. Animals

    Lady MacBee

    In one stingless Brazilian species, young queens shut out of succession in their own hives often usurp another colony’s throne.

  10. Life

    Climate changes, and there goes the neighborhood

    The ranges of rattlesnakes and voles are likely to shift drastically with warming, analyses of past changes suggest.

  11. Life

    Pterosaurs might have soared 10,000 miles nonstop

    Flight analysis suggests ancient reptiles were record setters.

  12. Life

    An oceanic endeavor

    Marine census catalogs creatures that roam all corners of the seas.