Issues

Summary: Comparative animal studies and neuromechanical modeling have revealed diversity in the integration of feedback and feedforward control, related to body size, mechanical stability, time to locomotor maturity and movement speed.

Summary: We review the history of social stress research, and discuss effects of social stress within and between generations. We identify outstanding questions, and propose a framework for future work.

Summary: Examination of the allometric scaling of resting and maximum metabolic rate with gill surface area suggests that gill-oxygen uptake meets metabolic demand in the California horn shark, Heterodontus francisci.

Summary: In vivo and in vitro analysis of the digestive physiology of the basal marine deuterostome Strongylocentrotus purpuratus via protease gene expression, food treatments and protease inhibitors indicates a crucial role for the trypsin-2 gene in protein digestion.

Summary: Replicate lines of mice selected for high voluntary exercise show higher V̇_O2,max, but not BMR, and do not differ from control lines in organ mass; V̇_O2,max and BMR are uncorrelated. These results offer limited support for the aerobic capacity model, but are relevant to the ‘behavior evolves first’ model.

Highlighted Article: Dehydration suppresses the extent to which pythons increase body temperature after ingesting a meal, thus demonstrating a physiological conflict between optimizing body temperature and water balance.

Summary: Experimental dietary manipulation demonstrates that prolonged cyclical loading stimulates both Haversian remodeling and bone formation in rabbit mandibles, providing evidence that the number of daily load cycles influences bony responses in the skull.

Summary: A biologging tag-based analysis of bottlenose dolphin swimming biomechanics indicates that a fluke-and-glide gait is more efficient than continuous fluking owing to reduced hydrodynamic drag during gliding.

Summary: Evaluation of NicheMapR biophysical model performance, sensitivity and usability for predicting avian thermoregulation in the heat, improving on previous models’ performance across temperatures linked to sublethal fitness costs.

Summary: Groups of birds comprising a homogenous mass composition are faster and expend less energy over the course of a flight than flocks composed of a mixture of heavy and light individuals.

Summary: Crassostrea gigas shows higher mitochondrial plasticity during hypoxia–reoxygenation stress when acclimated to low salinity, contributing to its ecological and invasive success in varying environments.

Summary: Ontogenetic changes in bite force and gape relate to facial morphology, body mass and food accessibility in tufted capuchins.

Summary: Comparative study of colour vision and temporal resolution of three tortricids differing in diel activity indicates they have the retinal substrate for trichromatic colour vision but lack prominent adaptations related to activity under different light conditions.

Summary: Analysis of oxidative stress responses after repeated episodes of heat stress questions the relevance of oxidative macromolecular damage to differential heat tolerance among Mytilus mussels. Furthermore, heat stress in air imposes different physiological consequences than heat stress in seawater.