Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: To build fat stores and to support migratory flight, western sandpipers (Calidris mauri) feed on biofilm, which provides a source of hypothesized performance-enhancing n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Dick et al. (jeb246105) found that the type and presence of dietary n-3 PUFAs did not alter markers of migratory performance. However, only birds consuming diets with the n-3 long-chain PUFA, and not the precursor fatty acids, achieved fatty acid compositions similar to wild birds. Sandpipers are likely limited in their conversion capacity and require a dietary source, which increases their vulnerability to any anthropogenic and/or climate change that harms biofilm availability. Photo Credit: Jason Puddifoot.
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INSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
Fantastic beasts and how to study them: rethinking experimental animal behavior
Summary: Novel technologies enable behavioral experiments with non-model species, in naturalistic habitats and with underexplored behaviors. Consequently, we require a deeper understanding of the natural ecology and lifestyle of study animals.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
Non-invasive methods for heart rate measurement in fish based on photoplethysmography
Summary: Photoplethysmography offers a novel approach for measuring fish heart rate, providing new insights in this field.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Maximum velocity and leg-specific ground reaction force production change with radius during flat curve sprinting
Summary: Sprinters decrease contact length and modulate ground reaction forces produced by their inside and outside legs as curve radius decreases, potentially limiting maximum velocity when sprinting along flat curves.
Polarisation vision in the dark: green-sensitive photoreceptors in the nocturnal ball-rolling dung beetle Escarabaeus satyrus
Summary: The nocturnal dung beetle Escarabaeus satyrus uses green-sensitive DRA photoreceptors and a series of morphological adaptations to increase the quality of its celestial compass readings from the night sky.
The kinematics of amblypygid (Arachnida) pedipalps during predation: extreme elongation in raptorial appendages does not result in a proportionate increase in reach and closing speed
Summary: Quantification of prey capture performance in multiple species of whip spider reveals a negative relationship between armament length and both reach and closing speed.
Limits to sustained energy intake. XXXIV. Can the heat dissipation limit (HDL) theory explain reproductive aging?
Summary: Manipulation of the thermoregulatory capability in lactating bank voles provides no support for the hypothesis that the age-related decline in reproductive performance is due to an age-related decrease in the capacity to dissipate heat.
European common frogs determine migratory direction by inclination magnetic compass and show diurnal variation in orientation
Summary: European common frogs possess an inclination magnetic compass, as do newts, birds and turtles, and can use it during the spring migration. Frog motivation has a diurnal rhythm associated with freeze avoidance behavior.
Comparative physiology reveals heat stress disrupts acid–base homeostasis independent of symbiotic state in the model cnidarian Exaiptasia diaphana
Summary: Warming oceans threaten marine invertebrates. Heat disrupts acid–base homeostasis in a model symbiotic sea anemone regardless of symbiont presence or function, highlighting bleaching-independent effects of climate change.
Effects of binocular cue availability on leaping performance in Cheirogaleus medius: implications for primate origins
Highlighted Article: Cheirogaleid primates with restricted binocular visual cue availability alter their leaping behavior and experience more frequent adverse landings, suggesting the evolution of forward-facing eyes potentially facilitated leaping in early primates.
The active space of sperm whale codas: inter-click information for intra-unit communication
Highlighted Article: A multi-element acoustic array to measure the active space of sperm whale codas shows a relatively small communication space, best suited to close range communication.
Cycling temperature treatments affect estimates of digestive performance in prairie lizards (Sceloporus consobrinus)
Summary: Standard methods of quantifying performance under singular stable temperatures may not adequately reflect rates of physiological processes of animals experiencing natural, cycling temperature regimes.
Experimental evidence that EPA and DHA are dietary requirements in a migratory shorebird, but they do not affect muscle oxidative capacity
Summary: Dietary manipulation of n-3 PUFAs suggests that western sandpipers have a dietary requirement for EPA and DHA. However, n-3 PUFAs do not increase flight muscle oxidative capacity.
Metabolomic responses to high-intensity interval exercise in equine skeletal muscle: effects of rest interval duration
Summary: Metabolic responses of Thoroughbred horses to the same high-intensity exercise differ not only with repetition but also with the length of the rest period between exercise bouts.
Smaller body size under warming is not due to gill-oxygen limitation in a cold-water salmonid
Summary: A long-term experiment linking individual fish growth, gill surface area and metabolism does not support the gill oxygen limitation hypothesis as a mechanism driving smaller body sizes with environmental warming.
ECR SPOTLIGHTS
CORRECTION
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.
