...Myra F. Laird; Cláudia Misue Kanno; Caitlin B. Yoakum; Mariana Dutra Fogaça; Andrea B. Taylor; Callum F. Ross; Janine Chalk-Wilayto; Megan A. Holmes; Claire E. Terhune; José Américo de Oliveira ABSTRACT Bite force and gape are two important performance metrics of the feeding system...

... performance of animals can provide insight into diverse aspects of their biology, ranging from ecological distributions across habitat gradients to the evolutionary diversification of lineages. To survive and reproduce in the face of environmental pressures, animals must perform a wide range of tasks, some...

...Ralph L. Albuquerque; Peter A. Zani; Theodore Garland ABSTRACT The standard paradigm of organismal biology views lower-level traits (e.g. aspects of physiology) as determining organismal performance ability (e.g. maximal sprint speed), which in turn constrains behavior (e.g. social interactions...

... that the forked tail produces thrust via acceleration reaction forces like the truncate tail during cruising but at increased energetic costs. This reduced efficiency corresponds to differences in the performance of the two tail geometries and body kinematics to maintain similar overall thrust outputs. Our...

...Mahaut V. Sorlin; Jamie R. Marks; Simon P. Lailvaux ABSTRACT Locomotor performance abilities are key predictors of survival and reproductive success in animals and understanding how selection targets them can provide insights into how morphology and physiology relate to fitness. But despite...

... individuals adopted each antipredator strategy, and then quantified the performance capacities underlying each strategy. In particular, we measured bite force as a determinant for aggression, sprint velocity for fleeing, and degree of color change for crypsis. We found that aggression was predicted by traits...

... conclude that recruitment of larvae and early juveniles to nursery areas might decrease under OAW conditions but individuals reaching juvenile phase might benefit from increased performance at higher temperatures. References Allan , B. J. , Miller , G. M. , McCormick , M. I. , Domenici...

... and contract muscle, sometimes at the expense of other activities or expression of traits. Nevertheless, convergent pathways have also evolved to deal with critical trade-offs that are necessary to survive ubiquitous environmental challenges. We discuss how whole-animal performance traits, such as locomotion...

... and fluoromicrometry studies found nearly all the axial musculature (over 80%) provides effectively all (90–99%) of the power for high-performance suction feeding. The dominance of axial power suggests a new framework for studying the musculoskeletal biomechanics of fishes: the form and function of axial muscles...

..., we measured muscle activity and shortening in bluegill sunfish ( Lepomis macrochirus ) using electromyography and sonomicrometry. We found that sunfish recruit epaxial regions in a dorsal-to-ventral manner to increase feeding performance, such that high-performance feeding activates all the epaxial...

...Oluwaseun M. Ajayi; J. D. Gantz; Geoffrey Finch; Richard E. Lee, Jr; David L. Denlinger; Joshua B. Benoit ABSTRACT Rapid hardening is a process that quickly improves an animal's performance following exposure to potentially damaging stress. In this study of the Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica...

... drivers such as acidification and oxygen loss in aquatic environments or excess humidity or drought on land. Experimental findings support the hypothesis that the width and temperature range of thermal performance curves relate to biogeographical range. Current warming causes range shifts, hypothesized...

... of elevating tissue temperature to increase the rate of chemical processes. Yet, movement performance that is robust to changes in body temperature has been observed in numerous species. This thermally robust performance appears exceptional in light of the well-documented effects of temperature on muscle...

... of mitochondrial processes, as mitochondria play a crucial role in animals as the primary site of ATP production. Conventional measures of mitochondrial performance suggest that these organelles can function at temperatures much higher than those that limit whole-organism function, suggesting...

...Andrew Z. Wang; Jerry F. Husak ABSTRACT Limited resources must be partitioned among traits that enhance fitness. Although survival-related traits often trade off with reproduction, survival-related traits themselves may trade off with each other under energy limitations. Whole-organism performance...

... of attachment (contact area) was investigated. This study found that many salamander species can cling fully inverted using only a portion of their ventral surface area to attach. Salamanders fall into three functional groups based on mass and maximum cling angle: (1) high-performing, very small salamanders, (2...

.... In order to mitigate the impacts of invasive predators on native species in different landscapes, we must understand how the prey's morphology and performance determine their survival. Here, we evaluated how phenotypic traits related to escape performance predict the probability of survival...

...Nadia Vicenzi; Alejandro Laspiur; Paola L. Sassi; Rubén Massarelli; John Krenz; Nora R. Ibargüengoytía ABSTRACT In ectotherms, temperature exerts a strong influence on the performance of physiological and ecological traits. One approach to understanding the impact of rising temperatures on animals...

... then investigated how this variation in feeding kinematics could explain scale-biting performance by measuring bite size (surface area removed) from standardized gelatin cubes. We found that a combination of larger peak gape and more obtuse lower jaw and suspensorium angles resulted in approximately 40% more...

...Nancy A. Curtin; Roger C. Woledge; Timothy G. West; David Goodwin; Richard J. Piercy; Alan M. Wilson ABSTRACT Active muscle performs various mechanical functions during locomotion: work output during shortening, work absorption when resisting (but not preventing) lengthening, and impulse (force...