Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: From flatworms and insects to frogs and turtles, embryos use disturbance cues and signals to inform hatching timing, yet mechanisms mediating mechanosensing in ovo are largely unknown. The arboreal embryos of red-eyed treefrogs, Agalychnis callidryas, hatch prematurely to escape predation, cued by physical disturbance in snake attacks. Jung et al. (jeb236141) provide evidence that the development of lateral line neuromasts mediates the earliest onset of mechanosensory-cued hatching. Functional neuromasts were treated to fluoresce using 4-di-2-ASP (pictured) and temporarily ablated to examine their role in vibration sensation in ovo. Photo credit: Julie Jung.
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INSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
Help, there are ‘omics’ in my comparative physiology!
Summary: Practical advice for successful design and implementation of omics-based experiments and interpretation of the resulting data to evaluate and test hypotheses in comparative physiology.
REVIEW
Developmental and reproductive physiology of small mammals at high altitude: challenges and evolutionary innovations
Summary: This Review describes challenges and evolutionary innovations of pregnant and nursing small mammals and their offspring at high altitude, which are little studied relative to the physiological adaptations of non-reproducing adults.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
A direct excitatory action of lactate ions in the central respiratory network of bullfrogs, Lithobates catesbeianus
Summary: Lactate ions stimulate central respiratory motor output in vertebrates.
Pursuit predation with intermittent locomotion in zebrafish
Highlighted Article: Predatory zebrafish adjust their heading during intermittent bursts in their motion toward evasive prey by modulating the maximum tail excursion in proportion to the prey's bearing.
A deposit-feeder sea cucumber also ingests suspended particles through the mouth
Summary: A sea cucumber previously recorded to be a deposit feeder can also ingest suspended particles through the mouth.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Drivers of plasticity in freeze tolerance in the intertidal mussel Mytilus trossulus
Summary: Plasticity in freeze tolerance in an intertidal mussel is correlated with an accumulation of osmolytes, supporting the hypothesis that osmolytes are important cryoprotectants in intertidal invertebrates.
The impact of long-term reduced access to cleaner fish on health indicators of resident client fish
Summary: Thirteen years of experimental reef manipulations show that fishes permanently without access to cleaners have lower body condition with no signs of hormonal and immune alteration.
Morphological colour adaptation during development in fish: involvement of growth hormone receptor 1
Summary: The ability of fish to morphologically adapt to the background is present at early stages of development and is dependent upon growth hormone receptor ghr1 expression.
Cilia density and flow velocity affect alignment of motile cilia from brain cells
Summary: Alignment of motile cilia in mammalian brains is essential for transport of fluids as described in an in vitro model of the developing brain.
Synergetic effects of immune challenge and stress depress cortisol, inflammatory response and antioxidant activity in fish-eating Myotis
Summary: Analysis of the cortisol–oxidative stress relationship, and the effect of simultaneous exposure to prolonged stress and an immune challenge in the insular bat Myotis vivesi.
Phylogenetic analysis of maximal oxygen consumption during exercise (V̇O2,max) and ecological correlates among lizard species
Summary: Among species of lizards, helodermatids, varanids and skinks (which are mainly active foragers) have relatively high maximal aerobic capacity during forced exercise (V̇O2,maxV̇O2,max), whereas viviparous species have relatively low V̇O2,maxV̇O2,max.
Social hierarchy is established and maintained with distinct acts of aggression in male Drosophila melanogaster
Summary: Precise descriptions of aggression aligned to changes in social status reveal how the recurring sequence and escalation of distinct behaviors relate to the establishment, maintenance and reversal of social dominance.
Structure and function of the nervous system in nectophores of the siphonophore Nanomia bijuga
Summary: Nanomia colonies have specialized swimming bells capable of forward or backward swimming; thrust is redirected by an epithelial signal that spreads electrotonically but initiates muscle contraction via a synaptic event.
Limits to sustained energy intake. XXXII. Hot again: dorsal shaving increases energy intake and milk output in golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus)
Summary: Shaved lactating solitary golden hamsters show increased rates of milk energy output and pup growth, and provide experimental support for heat dissipation limits.
Elastic wing deformations mitigate flapping asymmetry during manoeuvres in rose chafers (Protaetia cuprea)
Summary: During aerial turning, the chordwise flexibility of rose chafer wings increases the torque of each wing while improving maneouvring stability by mitigating the asymmetry in wing pitch between contralateral wings.
Multimodal mechanosensing enables treefrog embryos to escape egg-predators
Highlighted Article: Red-eyed treefrog embryos use both their lateral line and vestibular systems to sense the disturbance cues in egg-predator attacks that inform escape-hatching decisions.
A motion compensation treadmill for untethered wood ants (Formica rufa): evidence for transfer of orientation memories from free-walking training
Summary: We have developed and validated a motion compensating treadmill for wood ants which opens new perspectives to study insect navigation behaviour in a fully controlled manner over ecologically relevant durations.
Seismic sensitivity and bone conduction mechanisms enable extratympanic hearing in salamanders
Summary: Terrestrial hearing in salamanders that lack a tympanic middle ear is mediated by bone conduction of sound that is detected by the acoustic end organs of the inner ear.
Ambient temperature affects multiple drivers of physiology and behaviour: adaptation for timely departure of obligate spring migrants
Editor's choice: Songbirds use temperature in the behavioral decision of when to migrate from wintering areas. Transcriptional responsiveness to temperature is a significant component of the overall adaptive strategy for spring migration.
Thermal acclimation leads to variable muscle responses in two temperate labrid fishes
Summary: Two fish species from the Northwest Atlantic demonstrate variable acclimation responses when presented with temperatures that naturally induce winter quiescence.
Chicken colour discrimination depends on background colour
Highlighted Article: Colour discrimination performance in chickens is worse when the colours being discriminated differ greatly from the background colour. The ecological, physiological and psychophysical implications of this finding are discussed.
New funding schemes for junior faculty staff
In celebration of our 100th anniversary, JEB has launched two new grants to support junior faculty staff working in animal comparative physiology and biomechanics who are within five years of setting up their first lab/research group. Check out our ECR Visiting Fellowships and Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grants.
JEB@100: an interview with Monitoring Editor Stuart Egginton
Stuart Egginton reveals how he overcame the challenges of being a comparative physiologist in a medical school and how he would tell his younger self to trust his instincts when pursuing new ideas.
Mapping Neuromodulator expression in Octopus vulgaris – a Travelling Fellowship story
To develop her understanding of neural mapping, Federica Pizzulli, a PhD student from the Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, used a Travelling Fellowship from Journal of Experimental Biology to visit the Seuntjens lab at KU Leuven, Belgium – the first lab to adapt in-situ Hybridization Chain Reaction (HCR) to Octopus vulgaris. Read more about our Travelling Fellowships here.
Revealing the secrets of sleep
Research spanning 20 years has illuminated the universal nature of sleep across species, from mammals to cnidaria. Rhea Lakhiani and colleagues explore sleep phenomenology, physiology and function through the lens of comparative physiology.
Thirsty snakes want to keep cool
Even though cooling down to digest dinner is a risky strategy - it takes longer leaving reptiles vulnerable to attack - thirsty Children's pythons find a cooler spot and now Jill Azzolini & co have discovered that the parched reptiles choose to keep cool to conserve water.
