Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Burrowing is energetically expensive and requires substantial interaction with soil to dislodge and transport it. True moles (Talpidae) have extraordinary forelimb morphologies and a unique ability to dig in loose as well as compact soils, yet we know little of how moles coordinate their forelimb joint kinematics to dig. Lin et al. (jeb182436) used marker-based XROMM to study forelimb kinematics of eastern moles (Scalopus aquaticus) and demonstrated that the combination of stereotypic movements of the shoulder joint and flexibility in elbow and carpal joints makes moles extremely effective diggers in both loose and compact substrates. Photo credit: Yi-Fen Lin.
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INSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
Dissecting cause from consequence: a systematic approach to thermal limits
Summary: Integrative models composed of multiple cause-and-effect hypotheses may rapidly uncover the mechanisms setting organismal thermal limits.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
Lower leg morphology in runners: forefoot strikers have longer heels but not bigger muscles than rearfoot strikers
Summary: Muscle contraction dynamics during forefoot strike running may balance the effects of longer plantarflexor moment arm lengths in determining medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscle size.
Identification of a lipid-rich depot in the orbital cavity of the thirteen-lined ground squirrel
Highlighted Article: Through physiological and biochemical analysis, a previously undescribed orbital lipid depot discovered in the thirteen-lined ground squirrel is hypothesized to be a vascular rete.
Metabolic fuel use after feeding in the zebrafish (Danio rerio): a respirometric analysis
Summary: In zebrafish, carbohydrate and lipid were the major fuels during fasting, but carbohydrate oxidation increased immediately after feeding, while protein usage predominated at later times.
Bark beetles use a spring-loaded mechanism to produce variable song patterns
Summary: Destructive bark beetles use a spring-loaded mechanism to produce variable songs.
Elaborate pupils in skates may help camouflage the eye
Highlighted Article: New evidence shows that elaborate pupils, such as those found in benthic elasmobranchs (e.g. skates), may aid in camouflaging the eye.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
Field-based hearing measurements of two seabird species
Summary: Field-based physiological hearing measurements of a puffin and murre show they hear like other birds. The method provides clear responses, reduced environmental noise and is transferrable to other avian taxa.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Energetics and behavior of coral reef fishes during oscillatory swimming in a simulated wave surge
Summary: The relationship between swimming mode, turning behavior and energetic costs in coral reef fishes is examined for station-hold swimming in wave-induced water motions.
Threshold effect in the H2O2 production of skeletal muscle mitochondria during fasting and refeeding
Summary: In ducklings, skeletal muscle mitochondrial ROS release remains low until a threshold level of mitochondrial inactivity is exceeded.
Nathusius' bats optimize long-distance migration by flying at maximum range speed
Summary: Migration speed of wild Nathusius' bats conforms with expected optimal travel speed inferred from measurements of metabolic rate in conspecifics flying in a wind tunnel.
Mechanical properties of the wave-swept kelp Egregia menziesii change with season, growth rate and herbivore wounds
Summary: Responses of kelp material properties to season, growth and wounds help kelp survive a wide range of flow conditions in their lifetimes.
Bee and floral traits affect the characteristics of the vibrations experienced by flowers during buzz pollination
Highlighted Article: Buzz-pollinating bumblebees differ in the type of vibrations produced while visiting the same flower, and floral species affects the transmission properties of those vibrations.
Drosophila female fertility and juvenile hormone metabolism depends on the type of Wolbachia infection
Summary: The type of Wolbachia infection determines its effect on Drosophila melanogaster female fecundity via metabolism of juvenile hormone.
Antioxidant response to acute cold exposure and during recovery in juvenile Chinese soft-shelled turtles (Pelodiscus sinensis)
Summary: Antioxidant defense regulation in response to acute cold exposure in the Chinese soft-shelled turtle is not achieved at the transcriptional level, but rather by high constitutive antioxidant enzyme activities.
Brief exposure to intense turbulence induces a sustained life-history shift in echinoids
Summary: Intense turbulence causes echinoid larvae to become suddenly and permanently responsive to chemical settlement cues in a situation reminiscent of long-term potentiation in learning and memory.
Rapid adjustment of pecking trajectory to prism-induced visual shifts in crows as compared with pigeons
Highlighted Article: The visuomotor control of avian pecking is poorly understood. Visual distortion caused by prisms indicates that vision plays a role in pecking adjustments only before movement initiation in pigeons, whereas crows may use vison during movement.
Speed control and force-vectoring of bluebottle flies in a magnetically levitated flight mill
Summary: Forward flight speed of flies, while flying in a magnetically levitated (MAGLEV) flight mill, is controlled by body pitch and a collection of wing kinematic variables.
Complementary roles of photoperiod and temperature in environmental sex determination in Daphnia spp.
Summary: Male sex determination in daphnids is controlled by photoperiod and temperature, which may act by increasing levels of the Met subunit of the methyl farnesoate receptor.
How moles destroy your lawn: the forelimb kinematics of eastern moles in loose and compact substrates
Summary: The combination of stereotypic movements of the shoulder joint and flexibility in the elbow and carpal joints makes eastern moles extremely effective diggers in both loose and compact substrates.
Contrasting response of haematological variables between long-term training and short exercise bouts in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)
Summary: Zebra finches show differential responses in erythrocyte variables to long- and short-term physical activity. Short-term phenotypic flexibility in red blood cell size probably influences blood properties and blood functions.
Swimming strategies and energetics of endothermic white sharks during foraging
Highlighted Article: White sharks aggregating near seal colonies swim slowly and employ unpowered gliding in descents, presumably to reduce energetic cost of swimming while increasing encounter rates with fast-swimming seals.
Population history with invasive predators predicts innate immune function response to early-life glucocorticoid exposure in lizards
Summary: Historical, population-level exposure to invasive predatory fire ants (and associated stress) affects the immune consequences of early-life exposure to a stress-relevant hormone.
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.
Mapping Neuromodulator expression in Octopus vulgaris – a Travelling Fellowship story

To develop her understanding of neural mapping, Federica Pizzulli, a PhD student from the Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, used a Travelling Fellowship from Journal of Experimental Biology to visit the Seuntjens lab at KU Leuven, Belgium – the first lab to adapt in-situ Hybridization Chain Reaction (HCR) to Octopus vulgaris. Read more about our Travelling Fellowships here.
Revealing the secrets of sleep

Research spanning 20 years has illuminated the universal nature of sleep across species, from mammals to cnidaria. Rhea Lakhiani and colleagues explore sleep phenomenology, physiology and function through the lens of comparative physiology.
Thirsty snakes want to keep cool

Even though cooling down to digest dinner is a risky strategy - it takes longer leaving reptiles vulnerable to attack - thirsty Children's pythons find a cooler spot and now Jill Azzolini & co have discovered that the parched reptiles choose to keep cool to conserve water.