Issues

Highlighted Article: Blood pythons maintain high strike performance on flat surfaces by imparting rearward momentum to the posterior body and tail, using them as an inertial appendage, allowing the snake to apply high fore–aft forces without slipping, and thus exploit variable environments.

Summary: The anchor threads of spider orb webs allow greater movement of the web’s capture area, increasing the amount of absorbed kinetic energy and thus improving prey capture efficacy.

Summary: Tiny adjustments to geometric latches tune variation of ultrafast spring-propelled movements.

Summary: The insectivorous echolocating bat Myotis daubentonii can see light levels equivalent to the luminance of terrestrial objects in an open habitat under a moonless clear starlit sky.

Summary: The flight trajectories of pigeons steering through gaps between obstacles are well modelled by the same proportional navigation guidance law as describes the pursuit behaviours of birds and insects.

Summary: Toads may rely on hindlimb sensory information during take-off to tune their forelimb muscle activation in order to land effectively.

Highlighted Article: Mechanical analysis of the smooth, continuous transition from a quadrupedal to bipedal locomotor mode in baboons reveals a common strategy: crouch the hind parts and sprint them underneath the rising body centre of mass.

Summary: Walking male cockroaches and flying male moths track pheromone plumes more directly in experimental conditions more characteristic of their natural environments, i.e. low wind speed+low turbulence for walking cockroaches and higher wind speed+higher turbulence for flying moths.

Summary: Wintering small birds faced with the risk of predation and starvation primarily respond by modulating energy reserves. However, wild great tits can also adjust their energy expenditure adaptively.