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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Bottlenose dolphins use a variety of different foraging strategies. During ‘crater feeding’ they dig head-first into the sand to feed on bottom-dwelling fish. In a behavioral experiment, Hüttner et al. (jeb245845) investigated the bottlenose dolphin’s ability to sense electric fields in water, as generated by fish and other aquatic animals. Based on the determined thresholds, electroreception could help dolphins detect the electric fields of fish at close distances and increase their chances of snapping at their prey. Beyond foraging, this newly discovered electrosense could play a role in large-scale navigation through induction-based magnetoreception. Photo credit: Shane Gross (www.shanegross.com).
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INSIDE JEB
CONVERSATION
PERSPECTIVE
COMMENTARY
Journey through the history of Journal of Experimental Biology: a timeline
Summary: This Commentary summarises the history of Journal of Experimental Biology from its foundation by Lancelot Hogben, Julian Huxley and Francis Crew in 1923 to the present day.
REVIEW
Parameterizing mechanistic niche models in biophysical ecology: a review of empirical approaches
Summary: Mechanistic niche models are frequently used to predict climate vulnerability and species range dynamics. Here, we review the observations and experiments frequently used to parameterize mechanistic niche models.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
pi_tailtrack: A compact, inexpensive and open-source behaviour-tracking system for head-restrained zebrafish
Summary: pi_tailtrack is a Raspberry Pi-based imaging system that generates high-quality behavioural tracking data of larval zebrafish during functional imaging, using hardware that costs ∼340€.
Scoring thermal limits in small insects using open-source, computer-assisted motion detection
Summary: Development of a motion detection algorithm for reliable, automatic scoring of thermal limits in insects using an open-source tool.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Modulation of limb mechanics in alligators moving across varying grades
Summary: Alligators maintain speed when transitioning between varying grades by modulating limb mechanics such that limbs stay extended and static stability is prioritized during downhill walking.
Speed-specific optimal contractile conditions of the human soleus muscle from slow to maximum running speed
Summary: Experimental evidence that the human soleus muscle favors contractile conditions for economical work production during submaximal running and for enhancing mechanical power production during maximal running speed.
Multi-omics reveals largely distinct transcript- and protein-level responses to the environment in an intertidal mussel
Summary: The importance of transcript- and protein-level regulation differs across cellular functions and environmental contexts, and transcript and protein expression have higher concordance in stressful conditions.
Field-realistic exposure to neonicotinoid and sulfoximine insecticides impairs visual and olfactory learning and memory in Polistes paper wasps
Summary: Field-realistic insecticide exposure is detrimental to wasps, as it decreases movement, survival and visual and olfactory learning and memory in Polistes paper wasps.
Impacts of repeated social defeat on behavior and the brain in a cichlid fish
Repeated social defeat experiments in a cichlid fish highlight conserved brain networks underlying social stress resilience and susceptibility.
Long-term stress induced cortisol downregulation, growth reduction and cardiac remodeling in Atlantic salmon
Summary: Examination of the association of long-term stress with cardiac remodeling in Atlantic salmon, using scale cortisol as a chronic stress biomarker.
Noise-induced damage in the zebrafish inner ear endorgans: evidence for higher acoustic sensitivity of saccular and lagenar hair cells
Noise-treated zebrafish show greater hair cell and synapse loss in the inner ear saccule, followed by the lagena, suggesting their greater sensitivity and role in hearing loss compared with the utricle.
Tracing exploitation of egg boons: an experimental study using fatty acids and stable isotopes
Summary: Use of a combination of fatty acids and stable isotopes to trace egg consumption in several marine species that occupy lower trophic levels than the fish that produced the eggs.
Passive electroreception in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): implication for micro- and large-scale orientation
Bottlenose dolphins can detect electric fields in water and could be able to use this information for short-range prey detection as well as large-scale orientation.
ECR SPOTLIGHT
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.
