Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: A seed harvester ant of the Pheidole species standing on the eye of the bull ant Myrmecia tarsata. Miniaturisation – the reduction of body size within a single lineage – is a well-known phenomenon that is widely seen in ants. Reduced body size often leads to a smaller eye, which impacts visually guided behaviour. Palavalli-Nettimi and colleagues (jeb203018) investigated the effects of miniaturisation on the properties of the compound eye. Using pattern electroretinography with vertical gratings as stimuli, they found that miniature ants with fewer and smaller lenses have lower spatial acuity and dramatically reduced contrast sensitivity. Photo credit: Ajay Narendra.
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INSIDE JEB
CONVERSATION
REVIEW
Anthropogenic noise and the bioacoustics of terrestrial invertebrates
Summary: We review the current literature on invertebrate bioacoustics and characteristics of anthropogenic noise to suggest a framework for understanding the potential impact of anthropogenic noise on terrestrial invertebrates.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
The photon menace: kleptoplast protection in the photosynthetic sea slug Elysia timida
Summary: Behavioural and physiological photoprotective mechanisms mitigate light-induced oxidative stress in the sea slug Elysia timida and may play an important role in the establishment of long-term choloroplast symbiosis.
Differences in ocular media transmittance in classical frog and toad model species and its impact on visual sensitivity
Summary: The transmittance properties of the ocular media affect sensitivity to visual stimuli. Among frogs, the lenses of ranids are less transmissive than those of bufonids, decreasing sensitivity to ultraviolet light.
Acetoin is a key odor for resource location in the giant robber crab Birgus latro
Summary: Birgus latro is the biggest land-living crab – a solitary animal that sometimes accumulates at food sources. A single food odor, acetoin, is sufficient to govern this behavior.
Large ants do not carry their fair share: maximal load-carrying performance of leaf-cutter ants (Atta cephalotes)
Summary: Larger leaf-cutter ants carry fragments that represent a lower proportion of their body mass compared with smaller ants, and therefore retain a higher proportion of their carrying capacity in reserve.
Tissue-dependent variation of hydrogen sulfide homeostasis in anoxic freshwater turtles
Summary: Basal levels of free and bound H2S in Trachemys scripta elegans vary among tissues and upon acclimation to cold and anoxia, indicating that sulfide signaling may be critical in specific organs.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
Finding the peak of dynamic oxygen uptake during fatiguing exercise in fish
Summary: Accurately estimating peak oxygen uptake as a fish approaches fatigue in a swimming test must account for oxygen uptake being dynamic despite a constant, imposed workload.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Comprehensive analysis of genes contributing to euryhalinity in the bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas; Na+-Cl− co-transporter is one of the key renal factors upregulated in acclimation to low-salinity environment
Summary: Na+-Cl− cotransporter expressed in the late distal tubule is one of the key renal factors that contributes to euryhalinity of the bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas.
Muscular apoptosis but not oxidative stress increases with old age in a long-lived diver, the Weddell seal
Summary: Muscular apoptosis is not associated with oxidative stress in Weddell seals, suggesting that protection against diving-related increases in ROS generation is maintained into old age in these animals.
Prior reproduction alters how mitochondria respond to an oxidative event
Summary: Interactions among oxidative stressors are predicted to impact performance. Reproduction prior to an oxidative stressor improved liver mitochondria coupling, while skeletal muscle mitochondrial density decreased.
Antioxidant capacity and anoxia tolerance in Austrofundulus limnaeus embryos
Summary: Embryos of Austrofundulus limnaeus have a remarkable tolerance of reactive oxygen species that is likely supported by a combination of small molecule antioxidants and a high activity of antioxidant enzyme systems during early development.
Seasonal muscle ultrastructure plasticity and resistance of muscle structural changes during temperature increases in resident black-capped chickadees and rock pigeons
Summary: Two temperate resident birds of differing body mass show phenotypic flexibility of their pectoralis muscle through differing mechanisms of muscle growth.
ATP-induced reversed thermal sensitivity of O2 binding in both major haemoglobin polymorphs of the non-endothermic Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua
Summary: Phenotypic plasticity allows both major haemoglobin polymorphs of non-endothermic Atlantic cod to show ATP-induced reversed thermal sensitivity of oxygen binding at their warming southern distribution limit in the North East Atlantic.
Molecular physiology of chemical defenses in a poison frog
Highlighted Article: Chemically defended wild poison frogs have gene expression and protein abundance differences across several tissue systems compared with poison frogs reared on an alkaloid-free diet.
Miniaturisation reduces contrast sensitivity and spatial resolving power in ants
Highlighted Article: Pattern electroretinography reveals that miniaturisation in ants reduces both contrast sensitivity and spatial resolving power.
Evidence for a sexually selected function of the attachment system in bedbugs Cimex lectularius (Heteroptera, Cimicidae)
Summary: Bedbugs show sexual dimorphism in attachment to smooth surfaces, consistent with sexual, but not natural, selection. Insect attachment devices may be under similarly rapid diversifying evolution as male genitalia.
Morphometric models for estimating bite force in Mus and Rattus: mandible shape and size perform better than lever-arm ratios
Summary: Organismal performance is key for evolution, and morphology can evolve to optimize it. The link between performance and morphology should be tested to properly understand morphological variation.
Subtle short-term physiological costs of an experimental augmentation of fleas in wild Columbian ground squirrels
Summary: Short-term physiological influences of parasite–host interactions in a wild population of Columbian ground squirrels were minimal, suggesting evolutionary cost minimization in both parasites and hosts.
Latching of the click beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) thoracic hinge enabled by the morphology and mechanics of conformal structures
Highlighted Article: Conformal surfaces of the peg and mesosternal lip within the click beetle hinge form a latch, which maintains the arched body position. The peg bending stiffness allows for very small deformations when latched against the mesosternal lip.
Effects of repeated daily acute heat challenge on the growth and metabolism of a cold water stenothermal fish
Summary: Maximum metabolic rates of fish display plasticity to intermittent exposure to warm water.
Internally coupled middle ears enhance the range of interaural time differences heard by the chicken
Summary: The interaural time differences that chickens can use for sound localization are significantly greater than their small head size suggests. Closed-field sound stimulation and skull openings can, however, produce complex artefacts.
Optimal length, calcium sensitivity and twitch characteristics of skeletal muscles from mdm mice with a deletion in N2A titin
Summary: Skeletal muscles with a deletion in titin exhibit no activation dependence of optimal length, but typical length dependence of Ca2+ sensitivity, suggesting that these properties are not necessarily linked.
New funding schemes for junior faculty staff

In celebration of our 100th anniversary, JEB has launched two new grants to support junior faculty staff working in animal comparative physiology and biomechanics who are within five years of setting up their first lab/research group. Check out our ECR Visiting Fellowships and Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grants.
JEB@100: an interview with Monitoring Editor Stuart Egginton

Stuart Egginton reveals how he overcame the challenges of being a comparative physiologist in a medical school and how he would tell his younger self to trust his instincts when pursuing new ideas.
Travelling Fellowships from JEB

Our Travelling Fellowships offer up to £3,000 to graduate students and post-doctoral researchers wishing to make collaborative visits to other laboratories. Next deadline to apply is 27 October 2023
Feedforward and feedback control in the neuromechanics

Auke J. Ijspeert and Monica A. Daley provide an overview of key knowledge gained from comparative vertebrate experiments and insights obtained from neuromechanical simulations and robotic approaches. Read the full Centenary Review Article here.
Light fine-tunes electric fish pulses to keep them in the shade

Weakly electric fish perceive their surroundings through electric chirrups and now Ana Camargo & colleagues have revealed that light fine-tunes the fish's electric pulses to ensure that they remain scheduled beneath the mats of vegetation they use for shelter, avoiding penetrating beams of light that could give them away.