All Stories by Susan Milius
- Animals
Living Fossil: DNA puts rodent in family that’s not extinct after all
The Laotian rock rat, which is very much alive, belongs to a rodent family that supposedly vanished 11 million years ago.
- Animals
Killer mice hit seabird chicks
A surveillance video shows a worrisome sight: house mice nibbling to death rare seabird chicks on a remote island breeding colony.
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Primate’s Progress: Macaque genome is usefully different
A group of 35 labs has unveiled a draft of the genome of the rhesus macaque, the most widely used laboratory primate and a cousin to people.
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Mushroom Boom: Hobby records show climate-change boost
Mushrooms in England are starting to pop up earlier and staying around later than they used to, according to 55 years of amateur naturalists' records.
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Kill-save gene combo might fight malaria
A technique that might someday enlist mosquitoes in the fight against malaria has passed an early test.
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Rare flower needs prickly neighbors
A flowering plant found only in Mauritius makes more fruit if dense stands of pandanus trees grow nearby.
- Animals
Too Few Jaws: Shark declines let rays overgraze scallops
A shortage of big sharks on the U.S. East Coast is letting their prey flourish, and that prey is going hog wild, demolishing bay scallop populations.
- Plants
Old plants were lost in the grass
An obscure family of plants long thought to be relatives of grasses turns out to represent one of the most ancient surviving lineages of flowering plants.
- Animals
Honey, I Ate the Kids
Some of the most devoted parents in the animal kingdom routinely devour some of their own children.
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Not So Wimpy: Antimalarial mosquito has an edge in tests
For the first time, mosquitoes engineered to resist malaria have shed their underbug image and outperformed regular mosquitoes in a lab test.
- Animals
Mafia Cowbirds: Do they muscle birds that don’t play ball?
A new test offers the best evidence yet that cowbirds retaliate against birds that resist their egg scams.
- Animals
Snail Highways: By following trails, periwinkles save slime
A snail that follows another snail's slimy path saves energy by not having to secrete so much mucus.
