Issues

Summary: Motor neurons relay signals from the brain and spinal cord to muscles that perform behaviors. However, studies across phyla indicate that motor neurons also contribute to the function of pattern-generating circuits.

Summary: High-resolution motion sensors paired with supervised machine learning can be used to infer fine-scale in situ behavior of zooplankton over long durations.

Summary: The endocannabinoid system in zebrafish is pivotal to the development of the locomotor system, and perturbations of the system early in life alter morphology, locomotion and development of motor neurons.

Summary: Fish scale arrays produce steady laminar streaks inside the boundary layer of the fish, which reduces the skin friction drag and could delay transition.

Summary: Juvenile damselfish exposed in early life to a sufficient duration of heatwave conditions are smaller in size but have better predator-escape performance.

Summary: Forces experienced by the limbs of racehorses during galloping increase with speed, concomitant with predictions from duty factor, though show an approximate 50:50 front:back impulse distribution, suggesting symmetry may be beneficial for injury avoidance.

Highlighted Article: A developmentally programmed change in the scratching movements of locusts permits adult animals to aim their movements at new wing tip targets, without learning.

Summary: Investigation of natural wing damage in Morpho butterflies shows that flight performance depends on damage location, indicating that different wing parts play different roles during flight.

Summary: Physiological and life-history differences between dispersers and residents in a model mite are independent from stress responses, but may explain their success in different contexts.

Highlighted Article: The effects of seasonal acclimatization on cardiac responses to low temperatures are stronger than those of acclimation to similar temperatures in laboratory conditions, highlighting the importance of seasonal cues for cardiac remodelling in a eurythermal fish.

Highlighted Article: Porpoises performing target approaches adjust biosonar outputs and clicking rates differently depending on the environment, thus highlighting context as an important factor to consider in addition to range-dependent biosonar adjustments.

Summary: Newly described muscle fibers control a soft, flexible surface that the marine slug Aplysia californica uses to feed on seaweed, suggesting a novel mechanism for constructing a soft grasping device.

Summary: Zebra finches are less motivated to court videos of females than live females, but courtship songs to these stimuli are similar in performance, suggesting a dissociation between motivation and performance.

Summary: In common snapping turtles, beta-adrenergic stimulation increases heart rate during swimming and surfacing, whereas vagal withdrawal facilitates a systemic to pulmonary shunt during swimming.

Summary: Typically, contrast is thought to mediate visual saliency, but surprisingly, when presented with fly-sized, painted objects, male Drosophila melanogaster strongly preferred courting low-contrast, gray targets.

Summary: Computed tomography imagery in a finite-element model predicts that larval fishes detect acoustic pressure but that this pressure sensitivity declines ontogenetically, likely altering the detection and use of acoustic cues.

Editors' Choice: Hindlimb muscle leverage declines during growth in cottontail rabbits, likely promoting increased locomotor performance during the precarious juvenile period of life history.