INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
REVIEW
- The temperature dependence of electrical excitability in fish hearts
Summary: At the extremes of environmental temperature, electrical excitability of the heart and other excitable tissues may set limits to temperature tolerance of fishes and other ectotherms.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
- Lubricating the swordfish head
Highlighted Article: A newly discovered organ in the swordfish head, consisting of an oil-producing gland connected to capillaries with oil-excreting pores in the skin, may reduce streamwise friction drag and increase swimming efficiency.
- Tide-related biological rhythm in the oxygen consumption rate of ghost shrimp (Neotrypaea uncinata)
Summary: Oxygen consumption rate of the ghost shrimp Neotrypaea uncinata fluctuates with a period similar to that of the local semidiurnal tidal cycle.
- Incubation temperature causes skewed sex ratios in a precocial bird
Summary: Egg incubation may present an opportunity for sex ratio manipulation in birds.
- Plasticity of immunity in response to eating
Summary: Aspects of immunity can increase nearly 50% during digestion of a meal in snakes; thus, immune up-regulation may contribute to the energetic cost of digestion (specific dynamic action, SDA).
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Eating increases oxidative damage in a reptile
Summary: Consuming and digesting a meal affects oxidative physiology to a surprising degree, and animals that consume large or meat-based meals may be particularly susceptible to increases in oxidative damage.
- Altitude matters: differences in cardiovascular and respiratory responses to hypoxia in bar-headed geese reared at high and low altitudes
Highlighted Article: When exposed to progressive hypoxia, bar-headed geese reared at altitude exhibit a reduced metabolism and modestly increased ventilatory response, and also initiated cardiac responses earlier than geese reared at low altitude.
- Impact of nest sanitation on the immune system of parents and nestlings in a passerine bird
Summary: Nest sanitation primes the adaptive immune response of adult birds, but not necessarily the immune response of their nestlings; adult constitutive immune response also decreases throughout nestling rearing.
- Embryonic common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) preferentially regulate intracellular tissue pH during acid–base challenges
Summary: Embryonic turtles preferentially regulate tissue pH in the absence of blood pH regulation during acid–base disturbances. This pattern of acid–base regulation has never been observed before in amniotes.
- Control of lung ventilation following overwintering conditions in bullfrogs, Lithobates catesbeianus
Summary: Following ventilatory inactivity during winter submergence, bullfrogs can match breathing to metabolism and increase ventilation during hypoxia, but have reduced responses to hypercarbia when acutely transitioned to a warm-terrestrial environment.
- Jumping mechanisms and performance in beetles. I. Flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticini)
Highlighted Article: Flea beetles use a resilin-based structure as an elastic energy store for the catapult jumping mechanism.
- Physiological responses to hypersalinity correspond to nursery ground usage in two inshore shark species (Mustelus antarcticus and Galeorhinus galeus)
Summary: In response to an environmentally relevant hypersaline event, juvenile school and gummy sharks both show signs of stress; however, the osmoregulatory and cellular effects are greater in gummy sharks.
- A role for acoustic distortion in novel rapid frequency modulation behaviour in free-flying male mosquitoes
Summary: Female mosquito flight tones elicit a novel, stereotypical, auditory behaviour from male mosquitoes, although the male hearing organ is actually tuned to the frequency difference between male and female flight tones.
- A biorobotic model of the suction-feeding system in largemouth bass: the roles of motor program speed and hyoid kinematics
Summary: Experiments using a biorobotic model of the suction feeding system of ray-finned fishes reveal that motor program speed and kinematic timing of key musculoskeletal components affect subambient pressure generation.
- The ability to survive intracellular freezing in nematodes is related to the pattern and distribution of ice formed
Summary: Nematodes that survive intracellular freezing have small, uniform ice spaces, whereas the ice spaces of poor survivors vary more, with large spaces that may cause cellular damage.
- The significance of respiration timing in the energetics estimates of free-ranging killer whales (Orcinus orca)
Highlighted Article: Longitudinal observations of respiration times and underwater activity level indicate that consideration of respiration timing, in addition to respiration rate, is critical for estimating metabolic rates of free-ranging cetaceans.
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Meet the Editors at SICB Virtual 2021
Reserve your place to join some of the journal editors, including Editor-in-Chief Craig Franklin, at our Meet the Editor session on 17 February at 2pm (EST). Don’t forget to view our SICB Subject Collection, featuring relevant JEB papers relating to some of the symposia sessions.
2020 at The Company of Biologists
Despite 2020's challenges, we were able to bring a number of long-term projects and new ventures to fruition. As we enter a new year, join us as we reflect on the triumphs of the last 12 months.
Critical temperature window sends migratory black-headed buntings on their travels
The spring rise in temperature at black-headed bunting overwintering sites is essential for triggering the physical changes that they undergo before embarking on their spring migration – read more.
Developmental and reproductive physiology of small mammals at high altitude
Cayleih Robertson and Kathryn Wilsterman focus on high-altitude populations of the North American deer mouse in their review of the challenges and evolutionary innovations of pregnant and nursing small mammals at high altitude.
Read & Publish participation extends worldwide
“Being able to publish Open Access articles free of charge means that my article gets maximum exposure and has maximum impact, and that all my peers can read it regardless of the agreements that their universities have with publishers.”
Professor Roi Holzman (Tel Aviv University) shares his experience of publishing Open Access as part of our growing Read & Publish initiative. We now have over 60 institutions in 12 countries taking part – find out more and view our full list of participating institutions.