Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: As a human commensal species, the Eurasian tree sparrow has a wide elevational distribution throughout the Eurasian continent, e.g. from sea level to 5000 m of elevation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. High-altitude birds are challenged by the hypobaric, hypodense and cold air, but the flight-related performance and underlying aerodynamic constraints have not yet been well identified in comparison with lowland populations of this species. Sun et al. (pp. 3642-3648) show that intraspecific differences in flight-related morphological and functional variables over an ~3000 m elevational range indicate aerodynamic constraints on flight performance in parallel with enhanced heart and lung masses to offset hypoxic challenge. Photo credit: Shiyong Ge and Guanqun Kou.
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INSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
A place for host–microbe symbiosis in the comparative physiologist's toolbox
Summary: The rapid growth in knowledge of how microbial symbionts may affect their hosts is expanding our view of animal physiology and ecology in profound ways.
REVIEW
The defensive response of the honeybee Apis mellifera
Summary: Honeybees exhibit an efficient organization to defend their nest against a variety of intruders. We review the mechanisms of this defensive behaviour and highlight its plasticity at the individual and colony levels.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Flight mechanics and control of escape manoeuvres in hummingbirds. I. Flight kinematics
Summary: A detailed examination of the body and wing kinematics of four hummingbird species in fast escape manoeuvres shows that they change wing trajectory significantly, and escape manoeuvres do not obey the ‘helicopter model’.
Flight mechanics and control of escape manoeuvres in hummingbirds. II. Aerodynamic force production, flight control and performance limitations
Summary: Both neural delays and muscle mechanical power capacity could limit the manoeuvring performance of hummingbirds, and pitch manoeuvres require faster sensorimotor transduction than roll manoeuvres.
Androgen responses to reproductive competition of males pursuing either fixed or plastic alternative reproductive tactics
Summary: Androgen levels of fixed and plastic alternative reproductive tactics in the snail shell-brooding cichlid Lamprologus callipterus differ and are influenced by specific social and reproductive challenges.
Transcriptomic analysis of instinctive and learned reward-related behaviors in honey bees
Highlighted Article: Brain gene expression analysis sheds new light on the relationship between instincts and learned behaviors and provides new insights into how the brain's reward system influences social behavior.
Comparative physiological, biochemical and molecular thermal stress response profiles for two unionid freshwater mussel species
Summary: Comparative response profiling of two freshwater mussels, Villosa lienosa and Villosa nebulosa, under acute and chronic heat conditions indicates disparate thermal response mechanisms that may influence their range and survival under predicted global warming.
Behavioural integration of auditory and antennal stimulation during phonotaxis in the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus
Summary: Investigation of the effect of antennal mechanosensory stimulation in female crickets walking on a trackball shows that phonotaxis to male calling song is suppressed while the animals explore objects with their antennae.
Additional in-series compliance reduces muscle force summation and alters the time course of force relaxation during fixed-end contractions
Summary: Active shortening permitted by a tendon of high physiological compliance not only constrains muscle force generation, but also reduces force summation and accelerates the time course of relaxation.
Adaptation to life in aeolian sand: how the sandfish lizard, Scincus scincus, prevents sand particles from entering its lungs
Highlighted Article: The sandfish S. scincus spends nearly its whole life in fine desert sand. We discovered that it has an aerodynamic filtering system to prevent sand particles from entering the lungs.
Baroreflex regulation affects ventilation in the cururu toad Rhinella schneideri
Summary: Anurans integrate multiple mechanisms to maintain cardiovascular homeostasis; influences of the baroreflex on lung ventilation in the toad Rhinella schneideri correlate with function of the lymphatic system.
Continuous arterial PO2 profiles in unrestrained, undisturbed aquatic turtles during routine behaviors
Summary: Undisturbed freshwater turtles, unlike mammals and birds, do not maintain high arterial PO2 during routine activities. Oxygen levels are highly variable and often increase rather than decline during underwater breath holds.
The mechanics of head-supported load carriage by Nepalese porters
Highlighted Article: The low energy consumption of Nepalese porters while carrying load cannot be explained by a reduction of their muscular mechanical work.
Previous motor activity affects the transition from uncertainty to decision making in snails
Summary: Motor activity facilitates the transition from uncertainty to decision making in snails; beneficial effects of physical exercise on cognitive performance in mammals might thus have deep roots in evolution.
Flying high: limits to flight performance by sparrows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Summary: Intraspecific differences in flight-related morphological and physiological variables over an ∼3000 m elevational range indicate aerodynamic constraints on flight performance in parallel with enhanced heart and lung masses to offset hypoxic challenge.
Light level impacts locomotor biomechanics in a secondarily diurnal gecko, Rhoptropus afer
Highlighted Article: Vision is critical for locomotion, but it is poorly understood in relation to locomotor biomechanics in non-human vertebrates. The secondarily diurnal gecko, Rhoptropus afer, shows changes in speed and posture in low light conditions.
Physiological characterization of the hematophagy of Ornithodoros rostratus (Acari: Argasidae) on live hosts
Summary: Suction, salivation, chelicerae movements and inactivity at different frequencies over time are the events that occur during blood feeding of Ornithodoros rostratus on their vertebrate hosts.
Costs and benefits of vertical and horizontal transmission of dengue virus
Summary: Aedes aegypti mothers infected with DENV-2 produce more eggs with a sex ratio skewed towards males, and their daughters do not show a reproductive cost from vertical infections.
2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize shortlist and winner
The JEB Editors are delighted to announce the shortlisted authors for the 2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize. Read the winning paper - Tiny spies: mosquito antennae are sensitive sensors for eavesdropping on frog calls - by Hoover Pantoja-Sanchez and Brian Leavell from Ximena Bernal's lab at Purdue University, USA.
JEB Science Communication Workshop for ECRs
If you’re an early-career researcher interested in science communication and are attending the SEB Annual Conference in Prague this summer, come a day early and join the JEB Editors at a sci comm workshop to learn the key writing skills needed to promote your research to a broad audience beyond your peers (1 July at 14.30-17.30). Places are limited to 24 attendees, and applicants should apply through the SEB registration page by 30 April 2024.
Bridging the gap between controlled conditions and natural habitats in understanding behaviour
Novel technologies enable behavioural experiments with non-model species, in naturalistic habitats and with underexplored behaviours. In their Commentary, Scholz and colleagues discuss how to obtain a deeper understanding of the natural ecology and lifestyle of study animals.
How a macrourid fish remains buoyant at depths it should be unable to reach
Fish with swimbladders should not be capable of descending below 7200m, but when Alan Jamieson and Todd Bond spotted a macrourid fish at 7259m, they knew they had seen something miraculous. Working with Imantes Priede, they reveal that the swimbladder of a 1 kg fish could hold 37.9 g of oxygen, sufficient to offset the weight of the fish's bones, and take 221-440 days to fill, which is plausible because it takes years for the fish to descend to such depths.
ECR Workshop on Positive Peer Review
Are you an ECR looking for tips on how to write concise, astute and useful manuscript reviews? If so, join the JEB Editors at a 2-hour JEB-sponsored Workshop on Positive Peer Review at the Canadian Society of Zoologists annual meeting in Moncton on 9 May 2024 at 13.00-15.00. There are 25 spaces for ECRs and selection is first come, first serve. To sign up, check the ECR Workshop box when you register for the CSZ meeting.