Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Anurans exhibit vibrant skin colors (illustrated here in Physalaemus nattereri) that can change in response to external stimuli. Franco-Belussi et al. (pp. 1378-1383) describe systemic responses of internal color in frogs to external UV radiation. Internal color is composed of two pigment cell types that promote coloration in organs. The results provide for the first time experimental evidence of a functional explanation for the presence of internal pigmentation in anurans. Photo credit: Lilian Franco-Belussi.
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INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
(How) do animals know how much they weigh?
Summary: Animal musculoskeletal designs must be finely tuned to variation in body weight. Various mechanisms that allow such fine tuning are discussed.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
Cardiorespiratory responses in an Antarctic fish suggest limited capacity for thermal acclimation
Summary: The cardiorespiratory performance of Antarctic fish may limit the extent of thermal plasticity during acclimation, rendering them more sensitive to warming.
Dancing to her own beat: honey bee foragers communicate via individually calibrated waggle dances
Summary: Each honey bee possesses her own calibration: individual duration–distance calibrations vary significantly in both slopes and intercepts. This variation may incur a cost for communication.
Plasticity of upper thermal limits to acute and chronic temperature variation in Manduca sexta larvae
Summary: Heat tolerance in Manduca sexta larvae is affected by both the magnitude and the temporal pattern of previous exposure to high temperatures.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
The effects of call-like masking diminish after nightly exposure to conspecific choruses in green treefrogs (Hyla cinerea)
Summary: Hearing dynamic social stimuli, like frog choruses, can alter the responses of the auditory periphery in a way that could enhance detection of and response to conspecific acoustic communication.
Ontogenetic changes in larval swimming and orientation of pre-competent sea urchin Arbacia punctulata in turbulence
Highlighted Article: Pre-competent, 6-armed larval urchins swim faster and are less stable in experimental turbulent flow than younger 4-armed larvae, suggesting a potential age/morphology-driven differential transport mechanism in ambient flow conditions.
Decreased force enhancement in skeletal muscle sarcomeres with a deletion in titin
Summary: Force enhancement is absent in sarcomeres where amino acids in N2A and PEVK titin are deleted, indicating these specific regions are paramount in increasing titin stiffness in an active sarcomere.
Turning performance in squid and cuttlefish: unique dual-mode, muscular hydrostatic systems
Summary: Squid and cuttlefish are capable of high maneuverability and agility through coordination of a unique muscular hydrostat-driven propulsive system involving paired fins and a pulsed jet.
Plasticity in gastrointestinal morphology and enzyme activity in lactating striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis)
Summary: Lactating striped hamsters show significant plasticity in digestive tract morphology and enzyme activity, which increases reproductive performance.
Heat stress enhances LTM formation in Lymnaea: role of HSPs and DNA methylation
Highlighted Article: A heat shock experienced by a snail enhances the snail's ability to form long-term memory; the up-regulation of heat shock proteins is a necessary requirement for this memory enhancement process.
An animal homolog of plant Mep/Amt transporters promotes ammonia excretion by the anal papillae of the disease vector mosquito Aedes aegypti
Summary: An animal homolog of plant and bacterial ammonium transporters supports ammonia excretion at the anal papillae of mosquito larvae.
Inadequate food intake at high temperatures is related to depressed mitochondrial respiratory capacity
Summary: Variation in performance among individual fish is associated with differences in their mitochondrial leak respiration rate and respiratory control ratio.
Modification of sperm quality after sexual abstinence in Seba's short-tailed bat, Carollia perspicillata
Highlighted Article: A sexual abstinence experiment suggests that a difference in copulation frequency rather than an adaption to sperm competition provides Carollia perspicillata sneaker males with higher sperm quality than harem males.
Intra-specific variation in wing morphology and its impact on take-off performance in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) during escape flights
Summary: Blue tits with relatively larger wings have higher escape take-off performance, indicating that moult could increase the risk of predation.
Internal pigment cells respond to external UV radiation in frogs
Summary: Internal melanin in melanocytes and melanomacrophages protects cells and organs of frogs against short-term external UVR exposure.
Extracellular glucose supports lactate production but not aerobic metabolism in cardiomyocytes from both normoglycemic Atlantic cod and low glycemic short-horned sculpin
Summary: Glucose utilized by fish hearts is converted exclusively to lactate and not used to support aerobic metabolism. ATP produced in the cytosol may be a requirement for ionic regulation.
Spatial resolving power and spectral sensitivity of the saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, and the freshwater crocodile, Crocodylus johnstoni
Highlighted Article: Spectral sensitivity shifts to longer wavelengths in the freshwater crocodile compared with the saltwater crocodile, while the visual acuity of both species remains the same.
Morphology and motion: hindlimb proportions and swing phase kinematics in terrestrially locomoting charadriiform birds
Summary: Shorebird species with higher values of limb rotational inertia flex their limbs more during terrestrial locomotion; swing phase kinematics may therefore be strongly tied to limb rotational inertia.
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.
Beluga metabolic measures could help save species
To help save animals from extinction, it’s important to understand what each species needs to survive. This led Jason John et al. to measure the metabolic rates of captive belugas to develop a ‘fish calculator’ showing that the whales need to eat ~23 salmon per day.
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.
