Issues

Summary: The giant dragonflies of the Permian would have rapidly overheated during flight. It is proposed that thermal equilibrium could have been maintained through aspects of physiology, behaviour and higher air density.

Summary: Many 5-HT receptors have been characterized at the molecular level in diverse invertebrate species. This review considers how to classify and name these heterologously expressed receptors and compares their pharmacological properties.

Summary: Greenland shark arterial blood pressure is predicted to be very low (2.3–2.8kPa), based on the elasticity of its ventral aorta, supporting the idea that this species has a low aerobic metabolism.

Summary: Streaked shearwaters show consistent individual differences in autonomic activity that persist even across years and are driven by individual differences in parasympathetic ‘rest-and-digest’ activity, not sympathetic ‘fight-or-flight’ activity.

Summary: As expert foot-based swimmers, loons paddle by combining ankle flexion and knee rotation. Loons display head-bobbing, likely enhancing vision, and induce turns using their wings, tail, body and feet.

Summary: Corticosterone implants decrease the adrenocortical response to stress in birds and baseline corticosterone levels in white storks.

Summary: Based on experimental and theoretical evidence, it seems unlikely that ocean acidification will impair blood oxygen supply in active squid.

Summary: Mytilus galloprovincialis is able to concentrate 15 times more manganese ion in the kidney compared with concentrations in ambient seawater, and has been shown to excrete urine voluntarily.

Summary: Injuries to the mouth caused by fishing hooks reduce suction feeding performance in marine surfperch by altering the flow of water into the mouth during suction.

Editors' Choice: Octopus optic glands employ a multiplex progression of signaling molecules to regulate maternal behaviors.

Summary: Examination of the impact of wing inertia on the power requirement and flapping angle of attack, based on 3D free-hovering flight wing kinematics of a beetle Allomyrina dichotoma, using a theoretical blade element model.

Summary: Contrary to a 30-year-old well-regarded hypothesis, squid do not obtain oxygen across their skin to supply underlying tissues.

Summary: Use of RNAi-based therapeutics for nosemosis disease in honey bees.

Summary: The greatly modified filtering plates of silver carp produce strong, directed vortical flow during filter feeding, which is thought to potentially increase feeding efficiency.

Summary: Demonstration of a relationship between the shape of calcareous eggshells and their physical displacement by rolling to illuminate the adaptive value of morphology in the context of nesting habitat.

Summary: Three types of neuromast (tall, medium and short, belonging to two functional groups) have been identified on the lateral line system of pufferfish (Takifugu obscurus) and encode different aspects of the hydrodynamic stimulus.

Highlighted Article: Birds decrease REM sleep in a similar manner to mammals when sleeping under conditions of higher perceived predation risk.

Summary: Hybrid individuals of crested newts had higher values of anti-oxidant parameters and a less integrated anti-oxidant defence system in comparison with parental species, indicating a higher investment in maintaining oxidative balance.

Summary: Interwing aerodynamic interactions vary across the span of the high aspect ratio wings of dragonflies. This spanwise variation in aerodynamics could be exploited in the design of micro-air vehicles.

Summary: Certain chitons have hundreds to thousands of eyespots (∼35 µm) distributed across their shell plates; these eyespots are associated with spatial vision.

Summary: Many insects lose ion balance in the cold. CAPA neuropeptide can slow ion transport and reduce the cold tolerance of a fly.

Highlighted Article: Environmental variation can affect an individual's willingness and capacity to engage in fights over indivisible resources.

Summary: Thermal performance, but not the metabolic rate, of a widely distributed species varies linearly with latitude, whereas thermal limits and plasticity of metabolism are affected by biogeographic breaks.