Issues
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Close ModalCover: In addition to the more commonly observed slow crawling gait, sea stars exhibit a faster, oscillatory gait driven by synchronization of their podia. Ellers et al. (jeb242813) describe the kinematics of this newly recognized gait, called the bouncy gait, although there is no time during a stride when all podia are off the ground. Characteristic of this faster gait is that hodographs are clockwise and potential and kinetic energy are in phase, as they are in terrestrial vertebrate running. However, the ratio of these energies is very different, as is reflected in the Froude number, which is approximately 1–10 for terrestrial vertebrate running but 10−3–10−4 for sea stars using the oscillatory gait. Photo credit: Olaf Ellers.
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INSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
Safety factors as a ‘design’ principle of animal form and function: an historical perspective
Summary: The concept of safety factors as a biological ‘design’ principle was first articulated in 1906 in physiology and medicine, foreshadowing the concept's rediscovery in comparative biomechanics and comparative physiology.
REVIEW
Communication with self, friends and foes in active-sensing animals
Summary: This Review considers constraints in echo- and electro-locating animals such as weakly electric fish, bats and odontocetes, which are subject to signal interference and eavesdropping that compromise information transmission.
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Postural control in the elephant
Summary: The amplitude of postural oscillation in elephants is comparable with that in dogs and other species, suggesting that some aspects of sensorimotor postural control do not scale with size.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Thermal history of alfalfa leafcutting bees affects nesting and diapause incidence
Summary: Low temperature stress during pupal development has long-term effects on parental investment and offspring traits, including diapause incidence and viability.
Kinematics of sea star legged locomotion
Summary: A novel bouncy gait in sea stars is unlike any known terrestrial gait: it has a Froude number 1000 times lower than locomoting terrestrial vertebrates, but a kinetic and potential energy pattern similar to that seen in running.
Rapid embryonic development supports the early onset of gill functions in two coral reef damselfishes
Summary: Gill development occurs extremely rapidly in coral reef damselfishes. Early embryonic changes suggest that this initiates key ionoregulatory and respiratory functions in preparation for a fast pace of life.
Immune and hormonal modulation in the postprandial period of bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus)
Summary: In bullfrogs, feeding modulates corticosterone, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and bacterial killing ability; fasting increases stomach melatonin. This indicates hypothalamic–pituitary–interrenal axis activation in the postprandial period and a possible protective function of melatonin during fasting.
Beyond muscles: role of intramuscular connective tissue elasticity and passive stiffness in octopus arm muscle function
Summary: Intramuscular elastic elements and tensional stress allow for the differential use of arm muscle passive forces during motion in Octopus vulgaris.
Local thermal environment and warming influence supercooling and drive widespread shifts in the metabolome of diapausing Pieris rapae butterflies
Summary: Freeze avoidance is adversely affected by warming in diapausing Pieris rapae butterflies. Metabolomics suggests that this is driven by shifts in the abundance of hundreds of metabolites.
Evoked auditory potentials from African mole-rats and coruros reveal disparity in subterranean rodent hearing
Highlighted Article: New data on subterranean rodents elucidate the evolution of poor hearing in mammals living underground.
A magnet attached to the forehead disrupts magnetic compass orientation in a migratory songbird
Summary: Orientation tests in a small migratory songbird provide clear evidence for the efficacy of the magnet approach for temporarily disrupting magnetic compass orientation, but also reveal its limitations in experiments under free-flight conditions.
Neuroligin 1 expression is linked to plasticity of behavioral and neuronal responses to sex pheromone in the male moth Agrotis ipsilon
Summary: Expression and behavioral analyses reveal that overexpression of neuroligin 1 in the antennal lobes is paralleled with age- and odor experience-related increase in sex pheromone responsiveness of male moths.
Does dietary β-carotene influence ontogenetic colour change in the southern corroboree frog?
Highlighted Article: Examination of the effects of long-term dietary β-carotene supplementation and ontogenetic colour change in an aposematic frog found evidence for consistent ontogenetic colour change, but no effect of dietary β-carotene.
Increased cellular detoxification, cytoskeletal activities and protein transport explain physiological stress in a lagoon sponge
Summary: The physiological impacts of climate change on thermally susceptible marine sponges can be elucidated through proteome dynamics.
Simple models highlight differences in the walking biomechanics of young children and adults
Highlighted Article: Differences in the mechanics and energetics of walking suggest that children cannot be simply modeled as scaled-down versions of adults.
Prenatal yolk corticosterone exposure promotes skeletal growth and induces oxidative imbalance in yellow-legged gull embryos
Summary: Corticosterone affects prenatal development and oxidative status in yellow-legged gull embryos.
Celebrating Open Access
We asked the Editors-in-Chief of Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology for their thoughts on Open Access publishing.
Read more about our commitment to Open Access.
In the field: an interview with Glenn Tattersall
Glenn Tattersall talks about his experiences using a thermal imaging camera in South Africa, the Galapagos Islands, Scotland and Brazil.
Migrating European nightjars explore altitude to find optimal wind conditions
European nightjars continually change height, sometimes reaching 5km, as they migrate to find the most favourable flight conditions and conserve energy.
Muscle as a tunable material: implications for achieving muscle-like function in robotic prosthetic devices
Kiisa Nishikawa and Thomas Huck consider new insights into muscle mechanics based on the role of the giant protein titin in active muscles and discuss implications for design and control of robotic prostheses.
Read & Publish voices: Elizabeth Clutton, Tiago Repolho and Gastón Alurralde
JEB authors Elizabeth Clutton, Tiago Repolho and Gastón Alurralde speak with our Publisher Claire Moulton about their latest JEB article and the benefits of publishing Open Access for free via our Read & Publish initiative.
