Issues

Summary: Continuous measurement of heart rate and fine-scale movements of free-living juvenile white storks (Ciconia ciconia) using on-board bio-loggers reveals individual and environmental factors relating to daily mean heart rate.

Summary: This study provides functional and physiological evidence for the existence of ABCC-like efflux transporters in (gastropod) neurons and reports age-associated decline in the extrusion capacity of these transporters.

Summary: Many insects quickly enhance their cold tolerance with a plastic response called rapid cold hardening, and here we demonstrate that cultured Drosophila cells are capable of this impressive phenotype.

Summary: Fish slow myoblast cell culture allows for the investigation of slow muscle physiology and comparative studies with fast muscle, such as mir-133 and mir-499 families in muscle development.

Summary: Contrary to previous beliefs, invasive aquatic ectotherms do not always possess more thermo-tolerant mitochondria than their endemic counterparts.

Summary: Drosulfakinin, the homologue of vertebrate neuropeptide cholecystokinin, has an evolutionarily conserved, U-shaped effect on social isolation-induced aggressive behavior in fruit flies.

Summary: Bats affected by high atmospheric absorption adjust their vocalizations in a non-logarithmic fashion to maximize echo-to-noise ratio at long ranges and to avoid high echo levels when close to a target.

Summary: Broad inhibition as well as activation of peripheral odorant receptor signaling decreases aggression between non-nestmate ants consistent with a ‘lock-and-key’ model that requires OR-based detection of unambiguous non-nestmate chemical labels.

Editors' Choice: Extreme splenic blood-boosting strategy provides bald notothens with an extraordinary facultative aerobic scope that enables an active lifestyle in sub-zero marine environments.

Summary: Jaw and leg muscles are shown to consistently vary among five species of Anolis lizards, with each muscle expressing higher performance in different measures of muscle speed.

Summary: Hummingbirds alter fat turnover rates seasonally, with faster turnover during the summer, when they are lighter and have high daily energy expenditure. However, the preference for glucose as a substrate for fatty acid synthesis over fructose does not change seasonally.

Summary: Force enhancement and force depression are reduced in muscles from mice with a deletion in N2A titin, suggesting that titin plays a role in history-dependent muscle properties that contribute to natural movements.

Summary: Naturally occurring, non-pathological cleft palates are common in bats. Cleft dimensions are correlated with skull shape, and clefts reduce bite force, increase stress and increase strain in bat skulls.

Summary: Variation in proprioceptive sensory systems across tetrapods influences loading behaviors of the limbs.

Summary: The blue-spotted mudskipper routinely switches between aquatic and aerial respiration. This respiratory versatility is associated with properties of hemoglobin–oxygen transport that are similar to those found in hypoxia-adapted water-breathing fishes.

Highlighted Article: Sexual dimorphism in arm cranking power in humans suggests that sexual selection has occurred on males using the fist as a weapon.

Summary: In the absence of pectoral fin ray sensation, increased overlap in activity between antagonistic muscles likely acts to stiffen the fin system in order to enhance control and stability.

Summary: Loxosceles laeta has monochromatic vision with a spectral range between the ultraviolet and green and no eye type- or sex-specific spectral specializations, evidenced using electroretinogram and behavioral assays.

Summary: CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger Nhe3b has no effect on Na⁺ uptake in larval zebrafish. H⁺-ATPase and Na⁺-Cl⁻-cotransporter are not responsible for maintaining Na⁺ uptake in nhe3b knockout mutants.

Summary: Frogs seek hypoxic microhabitats in response to habitat drying. This behaviour, in turn, accelerates and accentuates metabolic depression during aestivation.

Summary: Hypoxia-seeking behavior in an amphibious fish out of water can accentuate metabolic depression, which may consequently protect energy reserves, as well as skeletal muscle structure and function during seasonal droughts.

Summary: In situ and manipulation experiments in wandering gartersnakes show plasma glucose is elevated during acute stress, but corticosterone concentrations are not tightly correlated with glucose concentrations.

Summary: Suction adhesion plays an important role in the function of a gliding joint in squid, preventing the joint surfaces from being disarticulated yet allowing sliding motions with minimal resistance.