The importance of atmospheric odours for homing pigeon navigation in a desert environment was tested using birds from two lofts located in the Sonoran desert near Tucson, Arizona, USA. When released from a familiar training site, experienced control pigeons and pigeons given intranasal injections of zinc sulphate to produce anosmia both displayed good homeward orientation and homed rapidly. When released from two unfamiliar locations, in contrast, the controls continued to display good homing performance while the zinc-sulphate-treated pigeons homed poorly. Significant differences in vanishing bearings, homing time and homing success were recorded. When a group of control and a group of zinc-sulphate-treated inexperienced pigeons were released from two unfamiliar locations, both groups homed poorly. Nonetheless, the controls still outperformed the zinc-sulphate-treated birds, the most notable result being a significant difference in homing success. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of atmospheric odours for the operation of the navigational map of the homing pigeon in a desert environment and, together with previous experiments, demonstrate that the role of atmospheric odours in homing does not seem to vary in any salient way with ambient climatic conditions. <P>
In the field: an interview with Harald Wolf
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In our new Conversation, Harald Wolf talks about his fieldwork experiences working with desert ants in Tunisia to understand their navigation.
Propose a new Workshop
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Our Workshops bring together leading experts and early-career researchers from a range of scientific backgrounds. Applications are now open to propose Workshops for 2024, one of which will be held in a Global South country.
Julian Dow steps down and John Terblanche joins the JEB team
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After 15 years with the journal, Julian Dow from University of Glasgow, UK, is stepping down as a Monitoring Editor. We wish Julian all the best for the future and welcome John Terblanche, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, who is joining the team. Julian talks about his long association with The Company of Biologists and the journal and John tells us about his life and career in this News article.
The capture of crude oil droplets by filter feeders at high and low Reynolds numbers
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Researchers from the University of Montreal, Canada, reveal how tiny filter feeding barnacles and Daphnia entrap and consume minute droplets of crude oil, introducing the pollutant at the bottom of the food chain.
Patterns and processes in amphibious fish
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In their Review, Keegan Lutek, Cassandra Donatelli and Emily Standen discuss the biomechanics and neural control of terrestrial locomotion in amphibious fish. They explore how locomotor mode depends on body shape, physical constraints and phylogeny.
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