Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: A brown-throated three-toed sloth moving below-branch by suspensory walking. McKamy et al. (jeb245622 ) discovered that their long, modified forelimbs are used for propulsion, whereas their shorter, stronger hindlimbs apply large braking forces and provide greater body weight support when horizontally traversing branches. Tree sloths are one of only a few mammalian taxa that have obligate suspensory habits, and although occupation of this unusual arboreal niche is convergent with several species of primates and their two-toed cousins, all of these animals demonstrate variable locomotor kinetics when performing inverted quadrupedalism. Photo credit: Ignacio Moya, The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica.
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INSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
The control of breathing in fishes – historical perspectives and the path ahead
Summary: Here, we link the pivotal discoveries in respiratory control in fishes to the development of innovative methods and posit that the adoption of gene-based technologies will be instrumental in advancing the field.
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Azimuthal invariance to looming stimuli in the Drosophila giant fiber escape circuit
Editor's choice: Drosophila descending neurons respond to visual looming information from the contralateral eye, even though their dendrites are ipsilateral, highlighting the importance of bilateral visual integration in generating location-invariant escape responses.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
Reconstructing the pressure field around swimming fish using a physics-informed neural network
Summary: A machine learning-based method for reconstructing the pressure field around swimming fish can be used to study the role of pressure sensing in a fish’s response to external stimuli.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
To escape or to pursue: opposite decision making concerning a single moving object is influenced by starvation and sex
Summary: In the crab Neohelice granulata, compatible decisions between prey catching or predator escape responses are elicited by the same moving object. The behavioural choice depends on starvation level and sex.
How bumblebees coordinate path integration and body orientation at the start of their first learning flight
Summary: Bumblebees fixate the nest while viewing a preferred location in their visual surroundings. This conjunction is aided by a preceding translational scan.
Fipronil affects cockroach behavior and olfactory memory
Highlighted Article: Environmentally found sublethal doses of fipronil affect cockroach exploratory behavior and olfactory memory, similar to the effect on honey bees.
Elevated developmental temperatures impact the size and allometry of morphological traits of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Summary: Bumblebees show a reduction in body size and antenna length and a change in allometric scaling of the tongue with elevated developmental temperature, indicating a strong impact of temperature on morphological traits.
Pump the brakes! The hindlimbs of three-toed sloths decelerate and support suspensory locomotion
Highlighted Article: Vertical and mediolateral limb loading patterns suggest that there are multiple strategies of body weight support and locomotor stability across suspensory mammals.
Aversive memory conditioning induces fluoxetine-dependent anxiety-like states in the crab Neohelice granulata
Summary: Crab associative aversive conditioning leads to the formation of enduring emotional behavior, revealed through dark/light plus-maze evaluation, involving serotonin-dependent processes.
Balanced mitochondrial function at low temperature is linked to cold adaptation in Drosophila species
Summary: Mitochondrial oxygen consumption decreases at low temperature, particularly in cold-sensitive Drosophila species, which turn to oxidation of alternative substrates as complex I-supported respiration is impaired.
The roles of brain lipids and polar metabolites in the hypoxia tolerance of deep-diving pinnipeds
Summary: Efficient neurotransmission supported by increased sphingomyelin and reduced glutamate levels, as well as increased glycolytic capacity, may contribute to the hypoxia tolerance of the pinniped brain.
ECR SPOTLIGHT
Reflections on a year of supporting and promoting our early-career researchers

In this Editorial, editors Patricia Wright, Michaela Handel and Craig Franklin reflect on what JEB has done over the last year to support and promote the future of comparative physiology and biomechanics – our inspiring early-career researchers – through workshops, grants, special issues and award sponsorship.
Thanking our reviewers in 2024
A big thank you to everyone who reviewed for JEB in 2024.
Ecophysiological responses to heat waves in the marine intertidal zone

Heat waves are intensifying with climate change and intertidal zones are the only ecosystem to experience both atmospheric and marine heat waves. In this Review, Jonathon Stillman and colleagues highlight the physiological impacts of heat waves on intertidal organisms, including effects on mortality, plasticity and adaptation.
Snakes require super-stretchy neck skin to consume massive mouthfuls

Some snakes are capable of gulping down meals that are far larger than their heads in a single mouthful and now Jarrod Petersen, Lucy Campbell and Thomas Roberts show that super-stretchy neck skin is likely one of the key factors that allowed boa constrictors and egg-eating snakes to evolve this extraordinary feat.
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. Register by 28 February 2025.
About us

JEB’s publisher, The Company of Biologists, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Learn more about its history from some of the Company’s Directors, including JEB Editorial Board member Holly Shiels, and read what Sarah Bray, the Chair of the Board, has to say.