Susan Milius

Susan Milius

Life Sciences Writer

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. Animals

    New candidates for smallest vertebrate

    Two recent scientific papers have described fish species that could, depending on the definition, be the world's smallest known vertebrate.

  2. Animals

    Eggs Scramble: Fungi trick termites into babysitting

    A fungus may be taking advantage of hardworking termite nursemaids by tricking them into tending egg-shaped fungal reproductive bodies along with real termite eggs.

  3. Animals

    Just Duet

    Two or more birds in some species can sing with such coordination that a human listener would swear that it's just one singer. With audio files.

  4. Dieting to Save a Species: Mother parrots that eat less avoid excess of sons

    New Zealand's endangered, flightless parrot population is recovering from a shortage of daughters now that conservationists are counting calories for the mothers.

  5. Animals

    Little Professor: Ants rank as first true animal teachers

    The best evidence so far of true teaching in a nonhuman animal comes from ants. With video.

  6. Sexual selection: Darwin does Jamaica

    A study of young Jamaicans dancing to pop music suggests that some of Darwin's ideas about animal courtship may apply to people.

  7. Animals

    First maternal care filmed in squid

    At least one squid species turns out to be a caring mom after all, say researchers who filmed the creatures using remote-control cameras positioned deep in the Pacific Ocean. With Video.

  8. Animals

    The Trouble with Chasing a Bee

    Radar has long been able to detect high-flying clouds of insects, but it's taken much longer for scientists to figure out how to track your average bee.

  9. Animals

    Locust Upset: DNA puts swarmer’s origin in Africa

    The desert locust was not an ancient export from the Americas, according to a new DNA analysis.

  10. Animals

    Ant Iron Chefs: Larvae fix dinner but don’t sneak snacks

    Movies of an ant colony show that larvae are the ones that prepare dinner when meat is on the menu. With Video.

  11. Earth

    TB Dilemma: Badger refugees complicate culling

    Two new analyses bring an ironic twist to the heated debate over whether badgers in Britain should be killed to prevent them from spreading tuberculosis among cattle.

  12. Ecosystems

    When Worms Fly: Insect larvae can survive bird guts

    Insects can travel as larval stowaways in the guts of migrating birds.