Issues
-
Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: How other animals see the world has always intrigued us, not least because their eyes are often notably different from ours. In visually mediated decision making, regional specialisations of eyes largely determine the information animals have for critical judgements. Bagheri et al. (jeb210195) present a new method for estimating the spatial resolution of compound eyes, using 3D micro-CT images of preserved animals. This method estimates the way in which a compound eye samples the visual field by mapping the viewing directions of individual photoreceptors (white dots) and calculating spatial resolution in different directions of view. This study reveals that fiddler crabs see the world with two parallel streaks located just above and below the visual horizon. Picture credit: Zahra Bagheri and Jeremy Shaw.
- PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of contents
- PDF Icon PDF LinkIssue info
INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
EDITORIAL
COMMENTARY
The stalk-eyed fly as a model for aggression – is there a conserved role for 5-HT between vertebrates and invertebrates?
Summary: We propose that the role of 5-HT in modulating invertebrate aggression is more nuanced than previously appreciated; there is evidence for distinct roles of 5-HT receptor subtypes in stalk-eyed flies, similar to the situation in vertebrates.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
The energetics of ‘airtime’: estimating swim power from breaching behaviour in fishes and cetaceans
Highlighted Article: Analyses of 14 fish and cetaceans during breaches indicates that the universal upper boundary of power production is ∼200 W kg−1 muscle, which matches maximum power recorded by animals under any other circumstances.
Why do muscles lose torque potential when activated within their agonistic group?
Summary: Muscles lose torque potential when activated with their agonistic group and this deficit is not associated with smaller moment arms, changes in inter-muscular pressure or inter-muscular force transfer.
A selfish genetic element linked to increased lifespan impacts metabolism in female house mice
Summary: Female mice carrying a selfish genetic element have a longer lifespan; these females have lower metabolic rates as they increase in size, which may arise through gene expression differences in the liver.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
A new method for mapping spatial resolution in compound eyes suggests two visual streaks in fiddler crabs
Summary: A new method for estimating the spatial and optical resolution of compound eyes, using the 3D micro-CT images of preserved animals.
History-dependent perturbation response in limb muscle
Summary: Muscle response to rapid, identical strain perturbations is history dependent, but is captured by a viscoelastic model with memory; the data and model show that the muscle perturbation response depends on locomotor frequency.
Maternal glucocorticoids promote offspring growth without inducing oxidative stress or shortening telomeres in wild red squirrels
Summary: Experimental increases in glucocorticoids in breeding female North American red squirrels affects offspring postnatal growth but not levels of oxidative damage and antioxidants or telomere lengths.
Establishment of correctly focused eyes may not require visual input in arthropods
Summary: Visual input appears not to be necessary to develop well-focused eyes in diverse arthropods, including camera-type eyes of beetle larvae and spiders, and compound eyes in flies.
Experience-dependent tuning of early olfactory processing in the adult honey bee, Apis mellifera
Summary: Experience acquired during adulthood changes the morphology, physiology and behavioral output of the olfactory system in the honey bee.
Whistling is metabolically cheap for communicating bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
Summary: Measurements of the costs of tonal sound production in bottlenose dolphins indicate that whistle communication is very cheap.
Comparing perineuronal nets and parvalbumin development between blackbird species with differences in early developmental song exposure
Summary: Perineuronal net and parvalbumin comparisons in blackbird species with contrast in early exposure to song tutors reveals a similar pattern in song learning nuclei but not in a song production nucleus.
Do the enlarged hind legs of male thick-legged flower beetles contribute to take-off or mating?
Highlighted Article: Male flower beetles have large hind legs that they use to grasp females securely during mating, acting like a vice grip; these legs do not enhance performance during take-off relative to females.
A fitness cost resulting from Hamiltonella defensa infection is associated with altered probing and feeding behaviour in Rhopalosiphum padi
Summary: Reduced performance of aphids infected with a common facultative endosymbiont on poor quality plants may be explained by changes in aphid probing behaviour and decreased phloem sap ingestion.
Tissue-specific expression of 11β-HSD and its effects on plasma corticosterone during the stress response
Summary: Peripheral enzymes are primarily responsible for enzymatic modulation of the glucocorticoid stress response in songbirds.
How fast can raptors see?
Highlighted Article: The temporal resolution of vision differs between raptor species, with falcons having higher flicker fusion frequency than hawks.
Sensory perception in a changing world – join us in Liverpool in March 2025
We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and the SEB satellite meeting. Find out more and register to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK. Submit your abstract by 17 January 2025. Early-bird registration ends on 17 January 2025.
Extraordinary creatures: mantis shrimp
In our new Conversation series focusing on extraordinary creatures, Tom Cronin and Sheila Patek tell us about the incredible biology of mantis shrimp, from their complex vision to their powerful striking abilities.
Behaviour as a physiological process
In this Commentary, Shamil Debaere & colleagues argue the case for integration of behaviour into animal physiology, and advocate for behaviour to be considered as a physiological process.
Tiny ring-necked snakes keep warm heads despite their size
Some ectotherms are able to raise the temperature of certain body parts above the temperature of other regions & now Christian Fox and Albert Chung, with undergraduates from the University of Virginia, reveal that the heads of tiny ring-necked snakes can be 2.1C warmer than their tails, even though they are only 20cm long.
