Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Whales are at risk from entanglement with fishing gear, as shown by this North Atlantic right whale (top), whose baleen can be seen protruding outside of its mouth. Biomechanical investigations by Werth et al. (jeb189233) demonstrate the remarkable flexibility of this keratinous oral tissue, owing to its arrangement of internal horn tubules (seen in cross-section; bottom left) and revealed by flow tank experiments (bottom right). The extent to which baleen can resume its shape after entanglement may help determine the fate of this critically endangered species. Photo credits: Center for Coastal Studies (NOAA permit 932-1489; whale); Diego Rita Espada (cross-section); Alexander Werth (baleen plates).
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INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
Genetic accommodation and the role of ancestral plasticity in the evolution of insect eusociality
Summary: Social insects are excellent models for studying phenotypic plasticity. We review issues associated with understanding the genetics of plasticity-first evolution and outline an empirical approach to help advance this field.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
Using a shell as a wing: pairing of dissimilar appendages in atlantiid heteropod swimming
Highlighted Article: Atlantiid heteropod swimming is unique in that these planktonic snails use a swimming fin and shell as paired wings to execute complex appendage kinematics, including a double clap-and-fling.
Water pH limits extracellular but not intracellular pH compensation in the CO2-tolerant freshwater fish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus
Summary: Low water pH limits extracellular pH compensation in a CO2-tolerant fish. This may increase selection for a more robust CO2 defence strategy where intracellular pH is preferentially regulated.
Glucocorticoid–temperature association is shaped by foraging costs in individual zebra finches
Summary: The association between baseline corticosterone and temperature was steeper in zebra finches living in a high- versus low-foraging-costs environment, which supports the metabolic explanation of glucocorticoid variation.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
High field metabolic rates of wild harbour porpoises
Highlighted Article: Harbour porpoises are small marine mammals that have high field metabolic rates, and offset increased thermoregulatory costs in winter by building a thick blubber layer during the autumn.
Innate visual preferences and behavioral flexibility in Drosophila
Summary: An operant conditioning paradigm in a multiple-choice maze shows that innate visual preferences can be transiently modulated in Drosophila via optogenetic activation of NPF-expressing neurons.
An attempt to select non-genetic variation in resistance to starvation and reduced chill coma recovery time in Drosophila melanogaster
Summary: An artificial selection experiment using D. melanogaster inbred lines to test for non-genetic inheritance that could be selected revealed a weak response to selection in the inbred and outbred lines, with variability across lines.
Distinct metabolic adjustments arise from acclimation to constant hypoxia and intermittent hypoxia in estuarine killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus)
Summary: Fish acclimated to constant hypoxia induced metabolic depression, whereas fish acclimated to intermittent hypoxia maintained routine O2 demands, suggesting that distinct physiological mechanisms can be used to cope with different patterns of hypoxia exposure.
Deciphering function of the pulmonary arterial sphincters in loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta)
Summary: The pulmonary artery sphincter allows sea turtles to manage pulmonary perfusion during diving, but this may become a liability during stress at depth, which may increase inert gas uptake resulting in gas emboli.
Bite force and cranial bone strain in four species of lizards
Summary: Cranial bone strain data from lizard crania reveal species-specific strain gradients that are not impacted by cranial kinesis or the presence/absence of postorbital and supratemporal bars, but by dietary effects.
How do baleen whales stow their filter? A comparative biomechanical analysis of baleen bending
Summary: The baleen of right and bowhead whales is longer than the height of the mouth; experiments show it is highly flexible and bends along its length to accommodate mouth closure.
Vultures respond to challenges of near-ground thermal soaring by varying bank angle
Summary: Empirical data on soaring behaviour of vultures reveal currency trade-offs through the thermal climb.
Hydrodynamics of linear acceleration in bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus
Summary: Bluegill sunfish accelerate primarily by increasing the total amount of force produced in each tail beat but not by substantially redirecting forces.
High accuracy at low frequency: detailed behavioural classification from accelerometer data
Summary: Very low accelerometer sampling frequency can reliably capture detailed behavioural and physiological data in a medium-sized carnivore.
MicroRNAs regulate survival in oxygen-deprived environments
Summary: MicroRNAs promote survival in an anoxic invertebrate through the mediation of Hippo signalling and the master regulator of hypoxia-responsive genes, HIF1.
Spectral sensitivity in ray-finned fishes: diversity, ecology and shared descent
Summary: Using the largest meta-analysis of spectral sensitivity to date, we examine how shared evolutionary history and certain ecological variables underlie variation in chromacy across ray-finned fishes.
Common guillemot (Uria aalge) eggs are not self-cleaning
Highlighted Article: Despite previous claims, common guillemot eggs are not self-cleaning. Instead, shell accessory material on guillemot eggs prevents debris from blocking pores, allowing relatively unrestricted gas diffusion across the eggshell.
Adaptive frequency shifts of echolocation sounds in Miniopterus fuliginosus according to the frequency-modulated pattern of jamming sounds
Summary: Miniopterus fuliginosus adapt their echolocation sounds according to the spectrum pattern of the jamming sounds.
Latency for facultative expression of male-typical courtship behaviour by female bluehead wrasses depends on social rank: the ‘priming/gating’ hypothesis
Summary: Although the behavioural sex change in fish can appear rapid, physiological competency for gender transformation is a slower process with expression gated by supermales.
Evidence that Rh proteins in the anal papillae of the freshwater mosquito Aedes aegypti are involved in the regulation of acid–base balance in elevated salt and ammonia environments
Summary: Rh proteins in the anal papillae of mosquito larvae are involved in regulating acid–base balance.
High experience levels delay recruitment but promote simultaneous time-memories in honey bee foragers
Summary: High experience levels at one food source delay recruitment to another food source at the same time of day but, nevertheless, promote simultaneous time-memories in honey bee foragers.
Potential role of the anterior lateral line in sound localization in toadfish (Opsanus tau)
Summary: The lateral line may be able to contribute to sound localization in fishes through a combination of directional sensitivity and time of arrival differences at neuromasts.
Endotoxin rapidly desensitizes the gonads to kisspeptin-induced luteinizing hormone release in male Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus)
Summary: Within hours of an immune response in the Siberian hamster, gonadal activity is suppressed, while pituitary function remains, providing evidence for direct immune-to-gonad communication and demonstrating reproductive system–immune system trade-offs.
CORRECTION
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.