Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Understanding muscle groups during movement in different insect groups could yield insights into evolutionary patterns and functional constraints. David et al. (pp. 1041-1049) developed an inverse dynamic muscle model for dragonfly mandible muscles based on micro-computed tomography and bite force data. Certain mandibular muscles seem to play a minor role in bite force generation, which is a potential reason for their loss in several insect orders. Inverse dynamic muscle modelling will allow for large-scale analyses of muscle configurations and head capsule designs in the megadiverse insects and foster understanding of insect evolution under mechanical constraints. Photo credit: John Hallmén.
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INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
Sticking to the story: outstanding challenges in gecko-inspired adhesives
Summary: High performing gecko-inspired adhesives have been the subject of extensive study for nearly 15 years. We comment on current gaps in understanding the natural system that seem critical to the design of highly functioning synthetic mimics.
REVIEW
Flapping wing aerodynamics: from insects to vertebrates
Summary: By comparing flapping flight across insects and vertebrates, we identify how their morphology and kinematics govern both shared and distinct aerodynamic mechanisms, and highlight open research questions in animal flight.
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Low cost of pulmonary ventilation in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) stimulated with doxapram
Summary: The cost of pulmonary ventilation measured in alligators that were pharmacologically stimulated with the respiratory stimulant doxapram reveals that ventilation in alligators is energetically cheap.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Mechanical responses of rat vibrissae to airflow
Summary: The mechanical response of rat vibrissae to airflow contains information about both airflow direction and magnitude, suggesting that the vibrissae may play a role in anemotaxis.
Starvation stress during larval development facilitates an adaptive response in adult worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)
Highlighted Article: Honey bees may have an anticipatory mechanism during development that is involved in queen–worker differentiation and worker division of labor, both of which are related to the responses to nutritional stress.
Larval starvation improves metabolic response to adult starvation in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)
Highlighted Article: Based on the experience of larval food restriction, honey bees, a eusocial insect species, can preset metabolic phenotypes to adapt to adult starvation.
Proteomic data reveal a physiological basis for costs and benefits associated with thermal acclimation
Summary: By investigating flies maintained at cold, benign and high temperatures, we provide a physiological basis for why ectotherms raised at low and high temperatures are more cold and heat resistant, respectively.
Comparison of the validity of Hill and Huxley muscle–tendon complex models using experimental data obtained from rat m. soleus in situ
Summary: Huxley and Hill muscle–tendon-complex models yield similar predictions of rat soleus muscle force, under physiological contraction conditions.
Phenotypic differences between the sexes in the sexually plastic mangrove rivulus fish (Kryptolebias marmoratus)
Highlighted Article: The sex-changing mangrove rivulus fish (Kryptolebias marmoratus) exhibits significant, sex-specific phenotypic differences, which may promote their transition between sexes.
Stuck in gear: age-related loss of variable gearing in skeletal muscle
Summary: Age-related changes in skeletal muscle support the idea that the interaction between contractile and connective tissues is responsible for variable gearing and is therefore essential to muscle performance.
The effects of multiple obstacles on the locomotor behavior and performance of a terrestrial lizard
Summary: The use of a bipdal posture to navigate a single obstacle is faster, requires fewer strides, and is associated with decreased intermittent locomotion compared with quadrupedal posture.
Elevated osmolytes in rainbow smelt: the effects of urea, glycerol and trimethylamine oxide on muscle contractile properties
Summary: Osmolytes involved in the cold acclimation of rainbow smelt are balanced to allow the smelt to maintain muscle function in winter.
Seasonal and sex differences in responsiveness to adrenocorticotropic hormone contribute to stress response plasticity in red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis)
Summary: The adrenal glucocorticoid response to ACTH varies with season and sex in garter snakes; decreased responsiveness to ACTH partly explains reduced stress sensitivity in males during the spring breeding season.
Broadband noise exposure does not affect hearing sensitivity in big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus)
Highlighted Article: Big brown bats are less susceptible to hearing losses after exposure to intense broadband noise than are terrestrial mammals.
Musculoskeletal modelling of the dragonfly mandible system as an aid to understanding the role of single muscles in an evolutionary context
Summary: A musculoskeletal model of the mandible–muscle complex for dragonflies is developed in order to understand the mechanical and evolutionary significance of single muscles within this system.
Detection of artificial water flows by the lateral line system of a benthic feeding cichlid fish
Summary: The role of the lateral line system in prey detection was investigated in a benthic feeding cichlid by training fish to identify artificial water flows emerging from a sandy substrate.
High variability in stable isotope diet–tissue discrimination factors of two omnivorous freshwater fishes in controlled ex situ conditions
Summary: The diet–tissue stable isotope discrimination factors of omnivorous fishes can vary considerably according to their dietary taxa and this could influence predictions of their trophic position and diet composition.
Smithornis broadbills produce loud wing song by aeroelastic flutter of medial primary wing feathers
Highlighted Article: Smithornis broadbills produce a loud klaxon-like wing song by aeroelastic flutter of wing feathers P6 and P7, and not the outer primaries P9/P10.
Differences in the timing of cardio-respiratory development determine whether marine gastropod embryos survive or die in hypoxia
Summary: The timing of cardio-respiratory development in the marine gastropod Littorina obtusata is crucial for determining whether embryos survive hypoxia; individuals that develop their adult cardiovascular system early survive low oxygen conditions.
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.
