Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Males in many species exhibit elaborate traits that both rivals and mates can evaluate. In peacocks, males perform a multimodal display during the breeding season in which they rattle their colorful feathers and shake their wings. Yorzinski et al. (pp. 1146–1153) demonstrate that peacocks selectively direct their attention toward their potential rivals during this display and primarily gaze at their lower feathers. Their gaze patterns closely match those of peahens assessing potential mating partners. Photo credit: J. Yorzinski.
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INSIDE JEB
CLASSICS
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
Development of a vortex generator to perturb fish locomotion
Summary: Development and calibration of a vortex generator to investigate the stiffness of fish fins during natural swimming.
A novel technique for the precise measurement of CO2 production rate in small aquatic organisms as validated on aeshnid dragonfly nymphs
Summary: In vitro and in vivo validation of a simple respirometry system for simultaneous measurements of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production rate, in small aquatic organisms (2 mg wet mass).
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Warm preconditioning protects against acute heat-induced respiratory dysfunction and delays bleaching in a symbiotic sea anemone
Summary: Changes in mitochondrial function by thermal preconditioning provide some protection to a symbiotic sea anemone against the effects of stressful heating.
Interspecies comparison of the mechanical properties and biochemical composition of byssal threads
Summary: An interspecies comparison of byssus produced by nine species in different natural environments shows that mechanical properties depends on the interrelationship between morphometric characteristics and their biochemical contents.
The energetic cost of filtration by demosponges and their behavioural response to ambient currents
Summary: Filter feeding in demosponges is energetically costly, with some species showing active behavioural control over the amount of water they filter under different ambient current speeds.
The Achilles tendon is mechanosensitive in older adults: adaptations following 14 weeks versus 1.5 years of cyclic strain exercise
Highlighted Article: The stiffness of the aging Achilles tendon increases after 14 weeks of mechanical loading exercise by changing its material and dimensional properties, whereas continuing exercise causes no further adaptive changes.
Archerfish use their shooting technique to produce adaptive underwater jets
Summary: Archerfish use the same mouth opening maneuver to produce and to adapt aerial and underwater jets.
Hidden female physiological resistance to male accessory gland substances in a simultaneous hermaphrodite
Summary: The effect of accessory gland proteins transferred on the love-dart of land snails can remain hidden within a species as a result of physiological female resistance to male manipulation.
The Lombard effect emerges early in young bats: implications for the development of audio-vocal integration
Summary: Two-week-old infant bats produce louder calls in noisy environments.
Effects of activity, genetic selection and their interaction on muscle metabolic capacities and organ masses in mice
Summary: Organ morphology and biochemistry were altered in response to selective breeding for voluntary wheel running, chronic exercise and interactions as a result of ‘more pain, more gain’ or the evolution of greater phenotypic plasticity.
Geographic divergence and colour change in response to visual backgrounds and illumination intensity in bearded dragons
Highlighted Article: Background colour and illumination intensity both elicit colour change in bearded dragon lizards, which makes them more similar to local backgrounds.
Appropriate rearing density in domesticated zebrafish to avoid masculinization: links with the stress response
Summary: High stocking density reduces survival and growth and masculinizes domesticated zebrafish, and this is probably mediated by cortisol through the stress response.
Lombard effect onset times reveal the speed of vocal plasticity in a songbird
Summary: Canaries are able to rapidly increase the amplitude of their songs to mitigate signal masking by noise, demonstrating high vocal plasticity in this species.
Metabolic plasticity for subcutaneous fat accumulation in a long-distance migratory bird traced by 2H2O
Summary: A novel and non-lethal tracer method using deuterated water revealed alteration in lipid metabolism of migrant black-tailed godwits subjected to different diets.
Respiratory mechanics of eleven avian species resident at high and low altitude
Highlighted Article: Work and cost of breathing in 11 species of waterfowl are reported to be lower than previously predicted in birds, but without effect of altitudinal habitat despite mechanical differences in highland species.
Influence of fatiguing noise on auditory evoked responses to stimuli of various levels in a beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas
Summary: Investigation of the effects of a fatiguing sound on the hearing of a beluga whale within a wide range of levels of test signals shows that fatiguing noise exposure reduces responses to supra-threshold signals.
Conspecific aggregations mitigate the effects of ocean acidification on calcification of the coral Pocillopora verrucosa
Summary: Densely aggregated coral colonies can create small-scale refugia from the negative effects of ocean acidification.
Economic thermoregulatory response explains mismatch between thermal physiology and behaviour in newts
Summary: Digesting newts prefer body temperatures that are optimal for aerobic scope not in absolute terms but relative to the minimum oxygen consumption.
Functional morphology of tegmina-based stridulation in the relict species Cyphoderris monstrosa (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Prophalangopsidae)
Summary: Using laser Doppler vibrometry in a relict species, evolutionary origins of sound generator features are investigated by comparison of functional morphology between distinct lineages of acoustically calling orthopterans.
Effects of external strain on the regulation of microtubule sliding induced by outer arm dynein of sea urchin sperm flagella
Summary: Microtubule sliding produced by dynein molecules on glass can be modified flexibly under application of mechanical signals. This self-regulatory activity of dynein would be the basis of flagellar oscillation.
Swimming and diving energetics in dolphins: a stroke-by-stroke analysis for predicting the cost of flight responses in wild odontocetes
Highlighted Article: Elevated locomotor costs during high-speed stroking by swimming dolphins demonstrate the energetic challenge of escape responses due to anthropogenic noise in the ocean.
Selective attention in peacocks during assessment of rival males
Summary: Peacocks selectively direct their attention toward the lower display regions of the train during rival assessment in a pattern similar to how peahens direct their attention toward potential mating partners.
The king of snakes: performance and morphology of intraguild predators (Lampropeltis) and their prey (Pantherophis)
Summary: Higher constriction pressures allow kingsnakes to successfully prey on ratsnakes of similar size despite comparable muscle cross-sectional area and escape performance.
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. Register by 28 February 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 Cox 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.
