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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: A Galapagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) with her pup. This is the smallest sea lion, but due to their physiological adaptations, makes the longest dives of any sea lion. Costa and Favilla (jeb245832) use diving marine mammals to explore how deviations from general patterns provide insight into the importance of ecological context, which can only be examined in the field. Photo credit: Daniel P. Costa.
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CONVERSATION
COMMENTARIES
Energetics of collective movement in vertebrates
Summary: Collective movement is a ubiquitous behaviour among vertebrates and yet we understand little about the energetic cost of moving as a group compared with that of solitary locomotion.
Waterborne amino acids: uptake and functional roles in aquatic animals
Summary: The mechanisms of epithelial transport and the subsequent use of dissolved amino acids in aquatic animals are discussed, highlighting key knowledge gaps.
REVIEW
Field physiology in the aquatic realm: ecological energetics and diving behavior provide context for elucidating patterns and deviations
Summary: We use diving marine mammals to explore how deviations from general patterns provide insight into the importance of ecological context, which can only be examined in the field.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
It's cool to be stressed: body surface temperatures track sympathetic nervous system activation during acute stress
Summary: Body surface temperature dynamics during acute stress tracked sympathetic nervous system activation. Consequently, sympathetic activity can be inferred non-invasively using infrared thermal imaging, overcoming many limitations of current measurement techniques.
Moderate heat stress-induced sterility is due to motility defects and reduced mating drive in Caenorhabditis elegans males
Summary: Heat-stressed Caenorhabditis elegans males show motility defects and a reduction in mate-searching behavior, potentially linked to changes in sensing satiation, resulting in a dramatic reduction in reproductive success.
Exploring the adaptability of the secondary structure of mRNA to temperature in intertidal snails based on SHAPE experiments
Summary: The secondary structure of cytosolic malate dehydrogenase (cMDH) mRNA of three intertidal snail species shows differences in thermal stability, which may be linked to snail geographical distribution.
Observations on neurophysiological pattern and behavioural traits as death-feigning mechanism in Eucryptorrhynchus scrobiculatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
Summary: Evaluation of the physiological response to death feigning in Eucryptorrhynchus scrobiculatus indicates that neurotransmitter variation in the weevil's brain plays a key role in the regulation of death-feigning duration.
Contrast sensitivity, visual acuity and the effect of behavioural state on optokinetic gain in fiddler crabs
Summary: The optokinetic gain of fiddler crabs that were free to rotate was significantly higher than that of crabs that were restrained.
Higher-order dialectic variation and syntactic convergence in the complex warble song of budgerigars
Summary: Budgerigars change the sequence of their songs as flocks associate and dissociate, to convey information about flock identity.
Hydration and evaporative water loss of lizards change in response to temperature and humidity acclimation
Summary: Acclimation to different humidity and temperature treatments drives plasticity in cutaneous evaporative water loss and related changes in plasma osmolality, hematocrit, and body mass in lizards.
Limits to sustained energy intake. XXXIII. Thyroid hormones play important roles in milk production but do not define the heat dissipation limit in Swiss mice
Summary: Thyroid hormones are necessary to maintain sustained energy intake and milk energy output in Swiss mice; however, they do not define the upper limit to sustained energy intake and milk energy output at peak lactation.
Beam theory predicts muscle deformation and vertebral curvature during feeding in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Summary: Direct measurements of strain and vertebral curvature throughout the trout body confirm the epaxial muscles experience orthogonal strain gradients during feeding.
Respirometry reveals major lineage-based differences in the energetics of osmoregulation in aquatic invertebrates
Summary: The influence of salinity on metabolic rates of freshwater invertebrates differs, perhaps as a result of evolutionary history.
Human muscle–tendon unit mechanobiological responses to consecutive high strain cyclic loading
Summary: Frequent high cyclic mechanical loading of a tendon over a short period of time may diminish the tendon's tolerance to high tensile loading and predispose it to overuse injury.
ECR SPOTLIGHT
Using the reactive scope model to redefine social stress in fishes
In their Review, Katie Gilmour and colleagues redefine the ambiguous concept of social stress by using the reactive scope model as a framework to explain the divergent physiological phenotypes of dominant and subordinate fishes.
JEB grants to support junior faculty
Learn about the grants that we launched in 2023 to support junior faculty from two of our awardees: Erin Leonard, Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Visiting Fellowship recipient, and Pauline Fleischmann, Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grant recipient. The next deadline to apply is 6 June 2025.
Thirteen-lined ground squirrels survive extraordinarily low blood oxygen
Brynne Duffy and colleagues reveal that thirteen-lined ground squirrels are true hypoxia champions surviving extreme low blood oxygen, down to just 34% oxygen, when they emerge briefly from hibernation.
The Company of Biologists Workshops
For the last 15 years, our publisher, The Company of Biologists, has provided an apt environment to inspire biology and support biologists through our Workshops series. Read about the evolution of the Workshop series and revisit JEB's experience with hosting the first Global South Workshop.
Fast & Fair peer review
Our sister journal Biology Open has recently launched the next phase of their Fast & Fair peer review initiative: offering high-quality peer review within 7 working days. To learn more about BiO’s progress and future plans, read the Editorial by Daniel Gorelick, or visit the Fast & Fair peer review page.
