Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Ultraviolet-stimulated autofluorescence in the eye of the mantis shrimp Odontodactylus latirostris. The green fluorescence in a single row of the midband indicates the presence of an ultraviolet optical filter pigment in the crystalline cones of those facets. A comparative study by Bok et al. (pp. 2055-2066) of 28 mantis shrimp species from four superfamilies revealed a surprising diversity in the total number and spectral properties of these filter pigments, indicating a complex evolutionary history and strong ecological significance. Additionally, this research suggests that the mantis shrimp eye is even more spectrally elaborate than previously considered. Photo credit: Michael Bok.
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SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
Oxidative stress as an indicator of the costs of reproduction among free-ranging rhesus macaques
Summary: Measures of oxidative stress in rhesus macaques reveal more DNA oxidative damage in males than females, in mothers raising daughters rather than sons and show enduring costs of aggression for males.
Interruption to cutaneous gas exchange is not a likely mechanism of WNS-associated death in bats
Summary: White-nose syndrome is unlikely to cause death in hibernating bats by interfering with passive gas exchange across wing surfaces.
Hearing ability decreases in ageing locusts
Summary: As adult locusts age, their hearing becomes less sensitive especially for lower frequencies. Furthermore, females exhibit this decrease with a larger effect, perhaps due to their gravid status.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Water loss in tree weta (Hemideina): adaptation to the montane environment and a test of the melanisation–desiccation resistance hypothesis
Highlighted Article: Montane weta species have decreased water loss parameters when compared with lowland weta species and cuticular water loss in the melanic morph of one species was greatly reduced, supporting the melanisation–desiccation resistance hypothesis.
Consequences of calcium decline on the embryogenesis and life history of Daphnia magna
Summary: Ambient calcium is declining in thousands of soft-water lake habitats. Daphnia females provision their offspring with calcium and through that incur a potential allocation trade-off.
Metabolic fates and effects of nitrite in brown trout under normoxic and hypoxic conditions: blood and tissue nitrite metabolism and interactions with branchial NOS, Na+/K+-ATPase and hsp70 expression
Summary: A concentration-dependent switch between the positive and negative effects of nitrite is revealed by studying its metabolism at basal and elevated concentrations under different oxygen regimes in the brown trout.
Fluid absorption in the isolated midgut of adult female yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti)
Summary: Fluid absorption in the isolated midgut of adult female yellow fever mosquitoes is shown to spontaneously proceed at rates expected from in vivo urine excretion, and Na+/K+ pumps, V-type H+ pumps and carbonic anhydrase are shown to be important for the active component of fluid absorption.
Lung mechanics and pulmonary function testing in cetaceans
Highlighted Article: A custom-built pneumotachometer provides novel data on respiratory physiology and lung mechanics in bottlenose dolphins.
Internal carbonic anhydrase activity in the tissue of scleractinian corals is sufficient to support proposed roles in photosynthesis and calcification
Summary: Internal carbonic anhydrase activity, quantified in three Caribbean coral species using a new approach based on 18O exchange, is sufficient to support proposed roles in photosynthesis and calcification in reef-building corals.
No response to linear polarization cues in operant conditioning experiments with zebra finches
Summary: Zebra finches do not learn to use polarization cues displayed on modified LCD-screens despite extensive behavioural training in a two-alternative forced choice experiment.
Ultraviolet filters in stomatopod crustaceans: diversity, ecology and evolution
Summary: A broad survey of mantis shrimp reveals variability in ocular UV-filters, suggesting a complex evolutionary history for these pigments, and even greater visual complexity than previously appreciated in this group.
Suppressed bone remodeling in black bears conserves energy and bone mass during hibernation
Highlighted Article: Hibernating bears have suppressed bone remodeling, contributing to energy conservation, eucalcemia and the preservation of bone mass and strength, promoting survival during prolonged periods of extreme environmental conditions.
Muscle force, work and cost: a novel technique to revisit the Fenn effect
Summary: A novel non-invasive technique allows measurement of muscle force production and ATP use simultaneously. Muscle shortening is most energy costly, and lengthening least costly, a test of the Fenn effect.
Oxygen-limited thermal tolerance is seen in a plastron-breathing insect and can be induced in a bimodal gas exchanger
Summary: Oxygen does not appear to universally limit thermal tolerance, but instead, oxygen-limited thermal tolerance is context dependent, being related to a species’ capacity to regulate oxygen consumption.
Digesting pythons quickly oxidize the proteins in their meals and save the lipids for later
Summary: Isotopes recovered from the exhaled CO2 of pythons fed on protein- and lipid-labeled mice indicate how and when the snakes oxidize the different types of metabolic fuels in their diet. This novel approach could be used on virtually any air-breathing animal.
Eye movements in chameleons are not truly independent – evidence from simultaneous monocular tracking of two targets
Highlighted Article: Chameleons have a unique ability to monocularly track two targets at the same time, one with each eye, with coordination between the eyes at the gross and the fine level.
Is oxidative status influenced by dietary carotenoid and physical activity after moult in the great tit (Parus major)?
Summary: Dietary carotenoid availability affects great tit yellow plumage coloration not only during but also outside moult, and flight activity decreases UV brightness after moult.
Dual foraging and pair coordination during chick provisioning by Manx shearwaters: empirical evidence supported by a simple model
Summary: A simple model based on patch quality and travel time shows that for Manx shearwaters combining chick feeding and self-maintenance, bimodal foraging trip durations optimise feeding rates.
Physiological and molecular responses of the goldfish (Carassius auratus) kidney to metabolic acidosis, and potential mechanisms of renal ammonia transport
Summary: Elevated renal ammonia excretion, in acidotic goldfish, is largely a product of elevated ammonia secretion, probably mediated by Rhesus glycoproteins. Ammonia secretion is largely independent of sodium counter-transport.
The function of resilin in honeybee wings
Summary: Morphological characteristics of worker honeybee (Apis mellifera) wings demonstrate the function of resilin on camber changes during flapping flight.
Using the reactive scope model to redefine social stress in fishes

In their Review, Katie Gilmour and colleagues redefine the ambiguous concept of social stress by using the reactive scope model as a framework to explain the divergent physiological phenotypes of dominant and subordinate fishes.
JEB grants to support junior faculty

Learn about the grants that we launched in 2023 to support junior faculty from two of our awardees: Erin Leonard, Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Visiting Fellowship recipient, and Pauline Fleischmann, Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grant recipient. The next deadline to apply is 6 June 2025.
Thirteen-lined ground squirrels survive extraordinarily low blood oxygen

Brynne Duffy and colleagues reveal that thirteen-lined ground squirrels are true hypoxia champions surviving extreme low blood oxygen, down to just 34% oxygen, when they emerge briefly from hibernation.
The Company of Biologists Workshops

For the last 15 years, our publisher, The Company of Biologists, has provided an apt environment to inspire biology and support biologists through our Workshops series. Read about the evolution of the Workshop series and revisit JEB's experience with hosting the first Global South Workshop.
Fast & Fair peer review

Our sister journal Biology Open has recently launched the next phase of their Fast & Fair peer review initiative: offering high-quality peer review within 7 working days. To learn more about BiO’s progress and future plans, read the Editorial by Daniel Gorelick, or visit the Fast & Fair peer review page.