Zoology

Developmental, regenerative, and behavioral dynamics in acoel reproduction

1. Vikram Chandra
2. Samantha E Tseng
3. Allison P Kann
4. D Marcela Bolaños
5. Mansi Srivastava

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Xenacoelomorpha is an enigmatic phylum, displaying various presumably simple or ancestral bilaterian features. This valuable study characterises the reproductive life history of Hofstenia miamia, a member of class Acoela in this phylum. The authors describe the morphology and development of the reproductive system, its changes upon degrowth and regeneration, and the animals' egg-laying behaviour. The evidence is convincing, with fluorescent microscopy and quantitative measurements as a considerable improvement to historical reports based mostly on histology and qualitative observations.

Reviewed by eLife

Postural adaptations may contribute to the unique locomotor energetics seen in hopping kangaroos

1. Lauren H Thornton
2. Taylor JM Dick
3. John R Hutchinson
4. Glen A Lichtwark
5. Craig P McGowan
6. Jonas Rubenson
7. Alexis Wiktorowicz-Conroy
8. Christofer J Clemente

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable biomechanical analysis of kangaroo kinematics and kinetics across a range of hopping speeds and masses is a step towards understanding a long-standing problem in locomotion biomechanics: the mechanism for how kangaroos, unlike other mammals, can increase hopping speed without a concomitant increase in metabolic cost. The authors convincingly demonstrate that changes in kangaroo posture with speed increase tendon stress/strain and hence elastic energy storage/return. This greater tendon elastic energy storage/return may counteract the increased cost of generating muscular force at faster speeds and thus allows for the invariance in metabolic cost. This methodologically impressive study sets the stage for further work to investigate the relation of hopping speed to metabolic cost more definitively.

Reviewed by eLife, preLights

The cold tolerance of an adult winter-active stonefly: How Allocapnia pygmaea (Plecoptera: Capniidae) avoids freezing in Nova Scotian winters

1. Jona Lopez Pedersen
2. Luke S. Burton
3. Tamara M. Rodela
4. Jantina Toxopeus

Reviewed by preLights

Aedes mosquito distribution across urban and peri-urban areas of Kinshasa city, Democratic Republic of Congo

1. Victoire Nsabatien
2. Josue Zanga
3. Nono Mvuama
4. Arsene Bokulu
5. Hyacinthe Lukoki
6. Glodie Diza
7. Dorcas Kantin
8. Leon Mbashi
9. Christelle Bosulu
10. Narcisse Basosila
11. Erick Bukaka
12. Fiacre Agossa
13. Jonas Nagahuedi
14. Jean-Claude Palata
15. Emery Metelo

• Curated by GigaByte

  Editors Assessment:

  In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Aedes mosquitoes are principal vectors of the arboviruses that cause yellow fever, chikungunya and dengue in the human population. However systematic surveillance data on these species remains limited, hindering for entomological and modelling research and control strategies. This paper is one of a series of Data Release papers in GigaByte supported by TDR and the WHO describing datasets hosted in GBIF to tackle these data gaps in vectors of human disease data. To address this data deficiency this paper presents a geo-referenced dataset of 6,577 entomological occurrence records collected in 2024 throughout urban and peri-urban areas of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The data collected using Larval dipping, Human landing catches, Prokopack aspirator, and BG-Sentinel traps. Data auditing and peer review found the data well validated, but requested some additional fields and methodological details. This work and the extremely useful data provided representing an important step towards building a pan-African resource for Aedes mosquito data collection.

  This evaluation refers to version 1 of the preprint

Reviewed by GigaByte

Investments in photoreceptors compete with investments in optics to determine eye design

1. Francisco JH Heras
2. Simon B Laughlin

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This paper makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the tradeoffs in eye design - specifically between improvements in optics and in photoreceptor performance. The authors successfully build a formal theory that enables comparisons across a wide range of species and eye types. One notable example is that how space should be allocated to optics and photoreceptors depends on eye type - with particularly notable differences between compound and simple eyes. The framework introduced to compare different design properties is convincing and provides a nice example of how to study tradeoffs in seemingly disparate design properties.

Reviewed by eLife

The first complete 3D reconstruction and morphofunctional mapping of an insect eye

1. Anastasia A Makarova
2. Nicholas J Chua
3. Anna V Diakova
4. Inna A Desyatirkina
5. Pat Gunn
6. Song Pang
7. C Shan Xu
8. Harald F Hess
9. Dmitri B Chklovskii
10. Alexey A Polilov

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study sets new standards in analyzing the ultrastructure of insect eyes, which have long served as models for understanding how vision works. The way it describes an entire eye with the resolution of electron microscopy is convincing. On top of this, a miniaturized visual system provides additional, remarkable insights towards understanding optimized solutions.

Reviewed by eLife

Integrating entomopathogenic nematodes into sustainable organic potato farming through a three-stage release technology

1. Azimjon Anorbayev
2. Nafosat Kurbonova
3. Nigora Tillyakhodjaeva

Reviewed by PREreview

Synaptic plasticity in the medial preoptic area of male mice encodes social experiences with female and regulates behavior toward young

1. Kazuki Ito
2. Keiichiro Sato
3. Yousuke Tsuneoka
4. Takashi Maejima
5. Hiroyuki Okuno
6. Yumi Hamasaki
7. Shunsaku Murakawa
8. Yuzu Takabayashi
9. Chihiro Yoshihara
10. Sayaka Shindo
11. Haruka Uki
12. Stefan Herlitze
13. Masahide Seki
14. Yutaka Suzuki
15. Takeshi Sakurai
16. Kumi O Kuroda
17. Masabumi Minami
18. Taiju Amano

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides important evidence that the postmating behavioral switch in male mice is mediated by distinct stages of synaptic plasticity within the medial amygdala-MPOA-BSTrh pathway. The findings are convincing, supported by rigorous behavioral characterization and electrophysiological approaches that disentangle the contributions of mating, cohabitation, and parental experience to neural circuit changes. While some methodological details and statistical reporting require clarification, the study significantly advances our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying paternal behavior.

Reviewed by eLife

Geometric analysis of airway trees shows that lung anatomy evolved to enable explosive ventilation and prevent barotrauma in cetaceans

1. Robert L. Cieri
2. Merryn H. Tawhai
3. Marina Piscitelli-Doshkov
4. A. Wayne Vogl
5. Robert E. Shadwick

Reviewed by preLights

Torpor energetics are related to the interaction between body mass and climate in bats of the family Vespertilionidae

1. Jorge Ayala-Berdon
2. Kevin I. Medina-Bello

Reviewed by preLights