Issues

Summary: Drosophila is steadily yielding the most complete connectome of any advanced nervous system. Connectomes help us to identify common synaptic circuits in different species and thus reveal the evolutionary progression in candidate pathways.

Summary: We review how body size and leg morphology influence walking and running gaits across 21 species of birds spanning a >2500× range in mass from painted quail to ostrich.

Summary: Skin water collection has evolved in several animal genera, enabling access to differing water sources. Six mechanisms are presented and their innovation potential for technical applications is discussed.

Summary: High-runner mice expressing the mini-muscle phenotype have reduced skeletal muscle buffering capacity; female mice have a lower buffering capacity than males and wheel access has no significant effect.

Summary: There is a positive simultaneous expression of IGF-1 and SOCS-2 in juvenile Nile tilapia under different nutritional statuses and stimulants. Furthermore, direct evidence confirms that IGF-1 can induce SOCS-2 transcription.

Summary: Through unknown mechanisms, Harlequin frogs have sensitive high-frequency hearing without the aid of a tympanic middle ear, which most tetrapods use to sense high-frequency airborne sound.

Summary: In line with theoretical models, experimental evidence indicates that a semi-terrestrial crab uses a two-channel polarization system to achieve object-based polarization vision, maximizing sensitivity in its natural environment.

Summary: The air-breathing fish Monopterus albus reduces blood and tissue pH by increasing P_CO2 with elevated temperature, similar to tetrapods.

Summary: The development of 3D accelerometers allows us to acquire new information about sea turtle behaviour; validation of the sensor signal for turtle behaviours is important in helping conservation efforts.

Highlighted Article: Reconstruction of the take-off and flight of feeding female hoverflies when approached by other insects, and quantification of visual parameters, reveals how freely behaving hoverflies perform escape responses from competitors and predators in the wild.

Summary: Hypertension and proteinuria development following maternal protein restriction in rats are linked to changes in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition and kidney structure in these low-protein offspring but the precise role of miRNAs in this is not clear.

Summary: Branchiopod crustaceans use multiple spectral photoreceptor classes in their compound eyes for depth selection behavior in spectrally variable, dim light environments, suggesting simple visual neuroanatomy is used for luminance vision.

Summary: Branchiopod crustaceans have simplified neuroanatomy in comparison to other pancrustaceans for processing color vision, yet they maintain four opsin-based spectral classes in their compound eyes.

Summary: Two lab-bred strains of Lymnaea stagnalis, derived from the same original population, demonstrate a difference in memory-forming ability, possibly due to environmental factors.

Summary: The sensitivity of Megachile rotundata to temperature suggests they evolved a temperature-mediated clock controlling emergence. Day length may be a weaker cue, where approximately 20% of light penetrates the brood cell.

Highlighted Article: Although flies modulate speed in response to temperature following the same dynamic as metabolic reactions, this response is controlled by the nervous system and not by a direct thermal influence on metabolism.

Summary: Peristalsis by Thoracophelia mucronata involves body expansions that apply normal forces to burrow walls in beach sands, similar to burrowers in muds; differences explain unusual morphological features of these worms.

Summary: Zebrafish heart expresses a diversity of Ca²⁺ channel genes dominated by the T-type (Ca_v3.1) subfamily; the associated current (I_CaT) is likely to play a significant role in excitation–contraction coupling.

Editors' Choice: Biochemical mechanisms of body size variation studied using crosses of pedigreed lines reveal the energy trade-offs between faster larval growth and the need for ATP allocation to protein synthesis.

Highlighted Article: High levels of perceived nest predation risk provoked an enhancement in the immune system of blackbird nestlings. Body condition and parasitic load mediated the effect of predation risk on the cellular immunity component.

Summary: Specialized morphology and behavioral modifications during locomotion of Southwestern USA chubs allow them to station hold at high speeds for long periods of time, which may help them survive flooding events in the Colorado River.