Issues
-
Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: The diamond dove exhibits an aerodynamically active upstroke, improving force production during slow flight. Crandell and Tobalske (pp. 2518-2527) examined avian force production mechanisms with high-speed kinematics and particle image velocimetry. For birds with long, pointed wings, including the dove, induced velocities during the downstroke (inset) are aided by an interaction between the left and right wing during upstroke. This is a novel example of an evolutionary convergence among insects, bats and birds that joins leading-edge vortices and rotational circulation as significant biological solutions to meet the considerable challenges of slow flight. Photo credit: Robert Niese and Kristen Crandell (inset).
- PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of contents
- PDF Icon PDF LinkIssue info
INSIDE JEB
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Muscle membrane potential and insect chill coma
Summary: Cold-tolerant Drosophila species defend their muscle resting membrane potential at low temperatures and may enter chill coma as a result of different physiological mechanisms than those in less cold-tolerant species.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
3D tracking of animals in the field using rotational stereo videography
Summary: An accessible video method measures the 3D spatial behaviour of wild untagged animals, including birds in flight, at sub-second intervals and in large air volumes.
siRNA transfection in larvae of the barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite
Summary: siRNA transfection using RNAfectin at both nauplius VI and cyprid stages is effective in knocking down gene expression in barnacles.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
The effect of discontinuous gas exchange on respiratory water loss in grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) varies across an aridity gradient
Highlighted Article: Comparative analysis of respiratory gas exchange in grasshoppers shows interspecific variation in DGC contribution to body water conservation, which is correlated with tracheal system dimensions.
Kinematics and aerodynamics of avian upstrokes during slow flight
Summary: Some birds exhibit an upstroke style that enhances aerodynamic force production during energetically expensive slow flight. This aerodynamic signature is closely linked with their wing motion.
Haltere mechanosensory influence on tethered flight behavior in Drosophila
Summary: Fly mechanosensory organs influence wing-steering responses to visual stimuli in a context-dependent way.
Stress in Atlantic salmon: response to unpredictable chronic stress
Summary: The unpredictable chronic stressor (UCS) paradigm, which mimics the effects of multiple stressors, causes dynamic changes at every level of the hypothalamic–pituitary gland–interrenal gland (HPI) axis of Atlantic salmon parr.
Probability distributions of whisker–surface contact: quantifying elements of the rat vibrissotactile natural scene
Highlighted Article: Simulations of rat whisking motions are used to quantify the probabilities of whisker–object contact in complex environments and to define the tactile natural scene.
Membranes as a possible pacemaker of metabolism in cypriniform fish: does phylogeny matter?
Summary: Membrane unsaturation of cypriniform fish decreases with mass as predicted by the membrane pacemaker theory of metabolism, but the allometric patterns of changes in individual fatty acids depend on phylogeny.
XROMM analysis of tooth occlusion and temporomandibular joint kinematics during feeding in juvenile miniature pigs
Summary: XROMM (X-ray reconstruction of moving morphology) is used to test kinematic hypotheses based on skeletal and soft-tissue anatomy against actual kinematics observed during naturalistic feeding behaviors.
Diurnality as an energy-saving strategy: energetic consequences of temporal niche switching in small mammals
Highlighted Article: Computational modeling reveals energetic benefits for diurnal small mammals as predicted by the circadian thermo-energetics hypothesis.
Characterising multi-level effects of acute pressure exposure on a shallow-water invertebrate: insights into the kinetics and hierarchy of the stress response
Summary: Elevated hydrostatic pressure causes changes in gene expression, behaviour and respiration rate in a shallow-water shrimp at different time-scales during and after exposure, highlighting the need to assess more than a single aspect of the overall stress response (OSR) in future physiological studies.
Food stress causes sex-specific maternal effects in mites
Summary: The predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis produces few large female eggs under moderate food stress but many small eggs when food is abundant, suggesting a sex-specific trade-off exists between egg size and number.
Feeding rainbow trout with a lipid-enriched diet: effects on fatty acid sensing, regulation of food intake and cellular signaling pathways
Summary: Feeding rainbow trout with a lipid-enriched diet affects fatty acid sensing and intracellular signaling pathways in the hypothalamus, suggesting an interaction that controls food intake.
Nitrogen solubility in odontocete blubber and mandibular fats in relation to lipid composition
Highlighted Article: Nitrogen solubility in toothed whale mandibular fats and blubber is related to lipid composition; most tissues exceed the fat nitrogen solubility value traditionally used in marine mammal gas dynamics models.
Scaling of cerebral blood perfusion in primates and marsupials
Summary: Brain blood flow rate increases with brain size and body size much faster in primates than in marsupial mammals, correlating with differences in cognitive ability.
Decision making and preferences for acoustic signals in choice situations by female crickets
Summary: Choice behaviour of female crickets can be explained by a simple comparison between auditory input from both sides and is reliably predicted by a computational model based on pattern and intensity cues.
Oculomotor strategy of an avian ground forager: tilted and weakly yoked eye saccades
Summary: European starlings employ a unique oculomotor strategy that meets the visual demands of foraging and avoiding predators in open habitats.
CORRESPONDENCE
CORRECTION
Sensory perception in a changing world – join us in Liverpool in March 2025
We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and the SEB satellite meeting. Find out more and register to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK. Submit your abstract by 17 January 2025. Early-bird registration ends on 17 January 2025.
Extraordinary creatures: mantis shrimp
In our new Conversation series focusing on extraordinary creatures, Tom Cronin and Sheila Patek tell us about the incredible biology of mantis shrimp, from their complex vision to their powerful striking abilities.
Behaviour as a physiological process
In this Commentary, Shamil Debaere & colleagues argue the case for integration of behaviour into animal physiology, and advocate for behaviour to be considered as a physiological process.
Tiny ring-necked snakes keep warm heads despite their size
Some ectotherms are able to raise the temperature of certain body parts above the temperature of other regions & now Christian Fox and Albert Chung, with undergraduates from the University of Virginia, reveal that the heads of tiny ring-necked snakes can be 2.1C warmer than their tails, even though they are only 20cm long.
