Issues

Summary: Aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates differ in their mechanisms of acoustic communication primarily because of their phylogenetic history and less so because of the physical differences between media.

Summary: We discuss a microcircuit of crab giant neurons, identified based on combined field and laboratory studies, which are involved in controlling naturally occurring prey and predator behaviors.

Highlighted Article: Experimental predator simulation, including chases and tail amputation, decreases brain cell birth in electric fish, demonstrating a cellular process by which predators influence the brain structure of their prey.

Summary: Comparison of photoreceptors of flying Panchlora and non-flying Periplaneta cockroaches using imaging and electrophysiological methods reveals prominent differences, which are discussed in relation to the visual ecological paradigm developed for Diptera.

Summary: Obligate avian brood parasites are not raised by their own species, yet upon independence, they recognize conspecifics. The auditory system aids juvenile birds with this challenge by selective responses to non-learned vocalizations.

Summary: The septate junction protein gliotactin is important for the regulation of the paracellular permeability of larval mosquito midgut.

Summary: Harbour seals can detect the water flow caused by breathing flatfish using their vibrissae. We assessed thresholds of 3.7 to 4.2 cm s⁻¹ breathing current velocity at efficient swim speeds.

Highlighted Article: Light to moderate contamination of feathers with crude oil increases the energy cost of flight by 22–45% and has important implications for all activities requiring flight, including long-distance migration.

Summary: Mice with more precise thermoregulation when fed had more labile body temperature when fasted, supporting the hypothesis that thermal specialists are more prone to using facultative heterothermy than thermal generalists.

Summary: Comparison of behavioural and anatomical estimates of visual acuity in coral reef fish reveals higher values for anatomical estimates but these may not be indicative of actual performance.

Summary: Intestinal contractile activity of euryhaline teleosts dramatically increases when in seawater to optimise intestinal ion and water absorption, which is most likely necessary to maintain osmotic homeostasis.

Summary: A robotic snake that models the energetic costs and thermal benefits associated with facultative endothermy in pythons.

Editors' Choice: The all-cone retina of the colubrid snake Pituophis melanoleucus contains a blue-shifted rhodopsin with cone opsin-like properties, which may have been adaptive in diurnal snakes.

Summary: Different Cataglyphis desert ant species include distinct types of turn, namely voltes and pirouettes, in their learning walks that may serve different navigational purposes.

Summary: Five Australian passerines show evaporative cooling mechanisms qualitatively similar to those of other members of the Passeriformes, but have reduced heat tolerance compared with southern African species.

Summary: The optimization of mitochondrial energy metabolism in skeletal muscle should favour the preservation of locomotion and thermoregulation, key physiological performances critical to survival in the final phase of fasting.

Summary: A community-based survey of the behavioural faculties of stage 1 Drosophila larvae, providing a resource for relating these behavioural faculties to the upcoming connectome of their nervous system.

Summary: Honeybees can orient using the skyline, the panoramic silhouette of terrestrial objects against the sky, an ability probably important to bees in their everyday navigation.