Issues

Summary: Polypterus senegalus raised in terrestrial environments develop a greater proportion of fast-contracting muscle fibers in their pectoral fins compared with aquatically reared fish.

Summary: We present Flowtrace, an algorithm and open-source code that allows simple visualization of characteristic structures (like jets or vortices) that appear in biological systems.

Editors' Choice: Late-stage oyster larvae are unable to gain energy in strong turbulence, even at very high food concentrations, because turbulence induces metabolically costly behaviors while inhibiting food capture.

Summary: Data retrieved from motion dataloggers and satellite tags showed that a tropical storm can have a large effect on swimming energetics of a sea turtle, but has little effect on nesting.

Summary: Variation in water temperature during early development in sea bream alters the response of adult fish to a cold challenge and is associated with a change in whole animal physiology and bone homeostasis.

Summary: Force sharing between the three heads of the triceps surae during submaximal contractions changes as a function of ankle angle, and the magnitude of this change is individual specific.

Highlighted Article: Stiffening the cetacean diaphragm may stabilize thoracic pressures during a breath-hold dive but it could also cause pressure problems for some of the arteries.

Summary: A novel virtual reality environment and paradigm for visual training in walking honeybees shows that bees learn certain visual components over others (colour over shape), and interaction between components is crucial for visual learning in walking bees.

Summary: Caprimulgiformes demonstrate high heat tolerance that is mediated by low rates of resting metabolism and a very efficient evaporative process that uses a gular flutter mechanism.

Summary: The forelegs of beetles were found to voluntarily swing to assist with flight yaw rotation. Remote control of left–right turnings by inducing leg swings was demonstrated via a wireless electrical stimulator.

Highlighted Article: An experimental fly model system to study how animals sense variation in their body weight and make corresponding molecular design and functional adjustments to load-bearing skeletal muscles.

Summary: Despite a widespread perception that end-of-century ocean acidification will reduce the thermal limits of fishes, we show that critical thermal maxima of coral reef damselfishes are robust to this stressor.

Summary: Chronic exposure to temperatures warmer than present-day summertime conditions reduces growth performance, metabolic scope and thermal safety margins in the common triplefin fish (Forsterygion lapillum).

Summary: Aedes aegypti aquaporin 5 participates in transcellular water transport across principal cells of larval mosquito Malpighian tubules.

Summary: When bridging gaps between branches, snakes use highly variable patterns of epaxial muscle activity depending on body orientation and the location of muscles relative to the supporting surfaces.

Highlighted Article: Investigation of the physiological mechanisms underlying compromised fright-dive capacity at elevated temperatures in juvenile estuarine crocodiles indicates that reduced capacity for metabolic depression and increased metabolic demands underlie shortened dive durations.

Summary: Quantification of freshwater drinking in relation to feeding in four species of snakes shows that postprandial relative to preprandial drinking is greater in all species, indicating that meal digestion increases the physiological requirement for water.

Summary: The acoustic features used by Japanese macaques to discriminate among individuals was investigated. Monkeys used both fundamental frequencies and vocal tract characteristics to discriminate between two monkeys based on vocalizations.

Summary: Differential DNA methylation occurs in red blood cells of adult hens reared under different conditions, i.e. in cages or open aviaries.

Summary: Desmognathine salamanders achieve a strong bite with a unique ligamentous mechanism that amplifies muscle force.

Summary: For the first time, changes are shown in the host-seeking behaviour of mosquitoes induced by West Nile virus that do not favour transmission of the virus.