Issues

Summary: This Review covers recent advances in the molecular biology of hibernation with a focus on molecular interactions underlying the hibernation phenotype.

Highlighted Article: Molts impose developmental stress in crayfish, under the control of ecdysteroids, and cause transient light-avoidance behavior that has features characteristic of anxiety.

Summary: Integration between swim speed and mouth size is absent in ancestral but present in derived populations of guppies, suggesting mechanisms for the evolution of integrated performance in fishes.

Summary: The effect of nectar flavonoids on the appetitive behavior of honey bees is proposed as a possible explanation for the previously reported differences in attractiveness between onion lines.

Summary: A degree of polarization threshold for orientation behaviour is reported for nocturnal dung beetle Escarabaeus satyrus in the context of measurements showing changes in the degree of polarization of skylight with lunar phase.

Summary: We show relationships between hypoxia tolerance and mitochondrial complex I and II flux capacities in marine sculpins that were not directly related to variation in ROS emission.

Summary: The cutaneous pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis directly disrupts cutaneous ion regulation in amphibians by increasing skin permeability and reducing sodium transporter activity and abundance.

Highlighted Article: Contrary to previous hypotheses, lateral line neuromasts retain the ability to detect external stimuli during self-generated movement without efferent modulation.

Highlighted Article: Bumblebees use parallax-based optic flow cues for gap perception and passability assessment when confronted with unexpected obstacles within their flight path.

Summary: Echolocating dolphins can use three modes of range-dependent click rate adjustment during long-range target approaches, and adjust click intensity with range, but not to perceive constant echo levels.

Summary: Hif-1α impact in regulating the hypoxic ventilatory response, possibly via nitric oxide synthase, varies over development and is dependent on the type of hypoxic stress in zebrafish.

Highlighted Article: A claim that zebrafish exhibit ‘emotional fever’, using behavioural thermoregulation to increase temperature in response to stress, was tested; no evidence was found for a stress-induced preference for warmer areas.

Summary: Elevated cortisol reduces cell proliferation in the telencephalon of socially subordinate male, but not female, zebrafish.

Summary: The respiratory system of the caiman stiffens during development. Most of the work of breathing overcomes elastic forces and increases during submergence. Flow resistance plays a significant role at higher ventilation frequencies.

Summary: A recently identified arthropod neuropeptide family is highly conserved within the crustaceans; one family member (AMGSEFLamide), which is highly conserved within the decapods, potently modulates three motor-pattern-generating circuits.

Summary: Gait characteristics of horizontal arboreal walking and vertical climbing differ from each other in important mechanical ways. The results presented here further emphasize high levels of gait flexibility in arboreal animals.

Summary: This article provides the first comparative study exploring the head compensatory movements of Anura in an ecomorphological context, revealing elevated compensatory abilities in the Natatanura clade that could provide a gyroscopic advantage.

Summary: In vivo experiments reveal the role of the nerve ring in ophiuroid locomotion and provide critical insight into how their decentralized nervous system functions.

Summary: The simple rules of engagement between victims and thieves are revealed by catching ant thieves red-handed and investigating their behaviour.

Highlighted Article: The amphibious fish Kryptolebias marmoratus rapidly increases hematocrit and cutaneous angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels) in response to aerial acclimation, which results in improved respiratory performance out of water.

Highlighted Article: Giraffes have extreme limb and neck proportions. Despite this specialised anatomy, analysis of giraffes' forces and motions during walking reveals surprising similarities with other mammalian quadrupeds.

Summary: Encoding the jumping escape direction and surveillance orientation in young and adult Locusta migratoria as an adaptive consequence of prior exposure to directional-biased predator approaches generated by a biomimetic robot.

Summary: Behavioural state has more influence on gene expression than social context or individual flexibility during a transition to parental care, whereas cytosine methylation is not associated with differential gene expression.

Summary: Flies orient toward the vertical edges of landscape objects. Luminance contrast and relative motion drive different components of object-tracking behavior, segregated by motion-detection circuitry.

Summary: A derbid planthopper uses two distinct take-off mechanisms; one fast (take-off velocity of 1.7 m s⁻¹) propelled by the hind legs and the second six times slower, propelled by wing beating.

Summary: Human jumping with added mass favours ankle work output because of enhanced contractile conditions of the calf muscles, resulting from an increased inertial resistance and interaction with an elastic tendon.