Issues
-
Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Loggerhead shrikes, like the San Clemente loggerhead shrike pictured here, are primarily insectivorous songbirds that also frequently consume large and formidable vertebrates relative to their body size. In order to capture and dispatch such diverse prey, loggerhead shrikes require both fast and forceful jaws. Sustaita and Laurin (jeb246555) examined how shrikes might navigate these conflicting demands on their jaws by testing for trade-offs between jaw-closing force and velocity during biting. They found that, in shrikes, jaw-closing speed is at least as ecologically important as bite force, and the two are modulated to maximize biting power. Photo credit: Nicole Desnoyers.
- PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of contents
- PDF Icon PDF LinkIssue info
INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
PERSPECTIVE
Advancing data honesty in experimental biology
Summary: The ease and inconsequence with which raw experimental data can be manipulated without trace may require a change in how these data are made available, as discussed in this Perspective.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
Refinement of a technique for collecting and evaluating the osmolality of haemolymph from Drosophila larvae
Summary: An improved method for collecting haemolymph from Drosophila larvae and measuring its osmolality, allowing a reasonable estimate of the true value.
THEORY & MODELLING
Soft skeletons transmit force with variable gearing
Highlighted Article: The transmission of mechanical work is modeled in hydrostatic skeletons. As these structures deform, they exhibit variable gearing in a manner determined by the mechanics of their fiber winding.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Receptors underlying an odorant's valence across concentrations in Drosophila larvae
Summary: An odorant that activates only one odorant receptor, Or7a, in Drosophila larvae becomes strongly attractive at higher concentrations, by recruiting activation of additional odorant receptors.
Biomechanics of biting in loggerhead shrikes: jaw-closing force, velocity and an argument for power
Summary: Jaw-closing forces and velocities of loggerhead shrikes correlate with upper bill depression and lower bill elevation, respectively; this potential division of labor between upper and lower jaws might allow them to maximize biting power.
Migration increases mitochondrial oxidative capacity without increasing reactive oxygen species emission in a songbird
Summary: Flight muscle mitochondria from migratory yellow-rumped warblers are more abundant, have higher phosphorylating respiration but similar reactive oxygen species emission compared with those of wintering warblers.
Captivity affects mitochondrial aerobic respiration and carotenoid metabolism in the house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)
Summary: Holding wild-caught male house finches in cages exposed a relationship between red carotenoid production and mitochondrial respiratory efficiency.
Behavior and morphology combine to influence energy dissipation in mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda)
Highlighted Article: Freely competing mantis shrimp dissipate 90% of the energy of high-force strikes by raising their impact-resistant tailplates off the substrate; faster strikes led to greater proportional energy dissipation.
The freeze-avoiding mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) survives prolonged exposure to stressful cold by mitigating ionoregulatory collapse
Summary: Despite being freeze-avoidant, overwintering Dendroctonus ponderosae larvae experience physiological stress when exposed to severe, non-freezing cold. This is linked to a disruption of ion balance akin to that in chill-susceptible insects.
Sealing the deal – Antarctic fur seals' active hunting tactics to capture small evasive prey revealed by miniature sonar tags
Highlighted Article: Analysis of the fine-scale hunting tactics of Antarctic fur seals reveals that fur seals rely on their ability to perform bursts of acceleration to capture their small evasive prey.
The scaling of metabolic traits differs among larvae and juvenile colonies of scleractinian corals
Summary: Scaling of metabolic traits differs among life stages and taxa of corals. Data compilation and empirical results suggest that variation in scaling is determined by life history and surface area to biomass ratio.
Impact of hindlimb length variation on jumping dynamics in the Longshanks mouse
Highlighted Article: Elongated hindlimbs improve lunge-jumping performance in the selectively bred Longshanks mouse, primarily by increasing contact time and decreasing mass-specific take-off forces.
A rapid return to normal: temporal gene expression patterns following cold exposure in the bumble bee Bombus impatiens
Summary: Following acute cold exposure, bumble bees mount a rapid, yet short-lived, transcriptional response characterized by changes in gene expression patterns that influence metabolic shifts.
ECR SPOTLIGHTS
Announcing the 2024 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize shortlist and winner
Every year JEB celebrates early-career researchers through the Outstanding Paper Prize. We recognise the shortlisted ECRS that contributed to 11 remarkable studies published in 2024 and congratulate the winner, Elise Laetz, from University of Groningen. See how else JEB supports and promotes ECRs.
Inside the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with Hans-Otto Pörtner
During the past two decades, Hans-Otto Pörtner has steered climate change policy as a co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II. He tells us about the experience in this Perspective.
Photosynthesis turns symbiotic sea anemone's tentacles toward sun
Snakelocks sea anemones point their tentacles, packed with symbiotic algae, toward the sun so their lodgers can photosynthesize, and now Vengamanaidu Modepalli & colleagues have discovered that photosynthesis by the algae guides their host's tentacles towards the sun.
History of our journals
As our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 years old, read about JEB’s history and explore the journey of each of our sister journals: Development, Journal of Cell Science, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.
