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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 21h

A special #WorldMigratoryBirdDay iobopen.com blog by Katrina Pinili on this Oxford University Press #book: New Perspectives on Ornithology Read in full iobopen.com/2026/10/10/a... #ornithology #science #nonfiction

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

For ICB's wrap up of World Octopus Day spotlights, be sure to check out upcoming SICB Pittsburgh presenter Horst Obenhaus who will speak about Development of quiet and active sleep states in #Octopus bimaculoides juveniles grassfoundation.org/people/horst... #scientist #cephalopods

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Meet IOB author R.L. Turner Of his 66 publications, 50 appear in refereed journals and books, and he is coauthor of the textbook Introduction to Marine #Biology, now in its fourth edition. www.fit.edu/faculty-prof... nbsp; nbsp; & read The Tagmatized #Echinoderm doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

Fig. 7
Specialized tagmata in euryalid ophiuroids. (A) The basketstar Gorgonocephalus eucnemis, with basal arm branches strengthening the disc. Asterisks (*) show approximate locations of the axillary ossicles (branch point as in crinoids); dashed lines indicate the junctions between the fixed-arm tagma and free-arm tagma. Scale bar 1 cm. (B) Asteroporpa annulata, strongly curled arm tip with hooked arm spines (sp), which differ from pedicellarial valves (pv) and fully grown arm spines (inset). Scale bars 100 µm. (C) Asteroschema tenue, a snakestar with gonads that extend into the coelom of basal arm segments. Scale bar 5 mm.
https://www.fit.edu/faculty-profiles/emeritus/turner-richard/

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

IOB "The argument is advanced here that examples of #tagmosis are not hard to find among echinoderms, a fourth major group of metameric animals; but the degree of tagmosis is weak in most cases. " The Tagmatized #Echinoderm R L Turner doi.org/10.1093/iob/... #science #biology

Fig. 3 Comactinia meridionalis and pinnules. (A) Whole preserved specimen with most of its 10 arms visible and with examples of oral (orp), genital (gep), and distal pinnules (dip) indicated by pointers. Scale bar 5 mm. (B) An oral pinnule in foreground, with others in background. Scale bar 2 mm. (C) Five genital pinnules of a non-gravid specimen. Scale bar 2 mm. (D) A distal section of arm with numerous distal (feeding) pinnules. Scale bar 2 mm.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

World #Octopus day lead up with Chelsea Bennice, PhD (@theoctogirl) an avid #scientific communicator who will be a symposium speaker at SICB 2027 in Pittsburgh. read more in the ICB blog by Colleen Hecker (image description link) & see Chelsea's amazing photos youtube.com/shorts/2b0st...

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

IOB Fig. 2 Comactinia meridionalis tagmata. (see image description) The Tagmatized #Echinoderm R L Turner doi.org/10.1093/iob/... #science #biology

IOB

Fig. 2 Comactinia meridionalis tagmata. The dorsal-most part of the body of this 10-armed featherstar consists of a tight cluster of ossicles: a #centrodorsal (cd, mostly hidden by cirri), to which are attached a circlet of cirri (ci) and a ring of five basals (hidden). Five arm bases arise from a second ring of five radials, one partly showing between the asterisks (*). Radials give rise to the first tagma of the axial skeleton: one brachial (br) and an axillary (ax). Two branches, free arms, arise from the axillary, each branch a long series of brachials that form a second (distal) tagma. Scale bar 2 mm.

from

The Tagmatized #Echinoderm

R L Turner

https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obag040

#science #biology

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Help us celebrate #OCTO-ber with Colleen Hecker's ICB blog piece integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2026/10/05/s... featuring #scientists, like Dr. Kim Kirchoff who studies #venom systems, with an emphasis on #cephalopods including #octopus, #cuttlefish, and #squid.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

IOB The Tagmatized #Echinodermnbsp; R L Turner doi.org/10.1093/iob/... Fig. 1 Examples of perioral tagmata in #echinoderms. #science #biologist

(A) The oral frame of Ctenodiscus crispatus (Asteroidea; dissected and briefly treated with bleach, aboral view) includes 35 elements: 10 first ambulacral ossicles (am1), each representing the conjoined first and second ambulacral #ossicles in the juvenile rudiment; 10 second ambulacral ossicles (2); 10 oral plates (op), mostly hidden from view by the ambulacral ossicles but revealed by some of their oral spines (sp); 5 odontophores (od), unpaired interradial extraxial elements present in many families of seastar. Scale bar 5 mm. (B) The oral frame of Ophiomastix wendtii (Ophiuroidea; view of oral surface) includes 30 externally visible ossicles as well as other internal ones: 5 oral shields (os); 10 adoral shields (as); 10 oral plates (op); 5 first ventral arm plates (vp); 5 dental plates (dp, position indicated but mostly obscured by clusters of their tooth papillae [encircled]). Scale bar 2 mm. (C) The perignathic girdle of Lytechinus variegatus (Echinoidea, dissected, treated with bleach, internal view of test) consists of 5 pairs of auricles (au), each pair at the proximal end of an ambulacral column (am), and 5 apophyses (ap) of the interambulacral columns (ia). Scale bar 5 mm. nbsp;

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

OCTO - ber is here! Be sure to read todays blog Scientist Spotlight: Perspectives from #Cephalopod #Biologists for World #Octopus Day by Colleen Hecker integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2026/10/05/s... #science #biology

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

IOB The Tagmatized #Echinoderm R L Turner doi.org/10.1093/iob/... Tagmosis is a derived condition of metamerism in annelids, #arthropods, and chordates in which groups of adjacent segments are modified to perform specific functions. #science #biology

Examples are the clitellum of #earthworms, the carapace of #lobsters, and the sacrum of #tetrapods, to mention a few. The argument is advanced here that examples of tagmosis are not hard to find among echinoderms, a fourth major group of metameric animals; but the degree of tagmosis is weak in most cases. The first few segments of the axial skeleton are often conjoined as a perioral tagma (e.g., the jaws and other parts of the oral frame of asteroids and ophiuroids and the lantern supports of echinoids).

Several segments beyond the oral frame unite the disc with the base of the arm in #ophiuroids. Crinoid pinnules occur in groups along the arms as oral, genital, and feeding pinnules. Porcellanasterid seastars have cribriform organs along the marginal ossicles on the base of the arm for generation of respiratory currents. Well-developed podial pores and podia are restricted to basal segments of the ophiuroid genus #Ophiomusium. Ambulacral plates of most post-Paleozoic #echinoids occur in clusters that result in arcs of variable numbers of pore pairs and spine tubercles, giving rise to several non-cidaroid tagmatized patterns. The strongest degree of tagmosis occurs in the bilaterally symmetrical echinoids, with petals, phyllodes, plastrons, and frontal ambulacra; and tagmosis differs among the axes. Tagmosis is absent in extant holothuroids, bodies of which are almost entirely composed of extra-axial elements. Tagmosis occurs in the oral regions of many extinct echinoderm classes, and the ambulacra are tagmatized in some, particularly in blastozoan classes and those with branched ambulacra.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Be sure to watch ICB author and co organizer, Meenakshi Vengarai's chat with author Jennie Durant and learn more about threats to #pollinators and one of the top 3 fraudulent foods in the world. #bees #nonfiction #books

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Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology @sicb.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Looking for ideas of how to do great #scienceoutreach with your lab? Join us Monday 12 noon est by emailing sicbmedia@sicb.org for the link 👍 @cupress.bsky.social #scientist Michael Childress will love to have you there.

static.klipy.com

Waving Clemson Tigers Flag

ALT: Waving Clemson Tigers Flag

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

IOB co author Kathy Liu provided footage for research for this IOB paper A Head of the Curve: Bonnethead #Shark (Sphyrna tiburo) Cephalofoil #Morphology and Trophic #Ecology doi.org/10.1093/iob/... watch via SICB's YouTube youtu.be/_EVSL61jv6Y?...

youtu.be

Kathy Liu provides footage of a Bonnethead's olympic swimming!

YouTube video by Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

ICB Throwback Axolotl Thursday #Morphological, #Biochemical and #Immunohistochemical Studies on Heart Development in Cardiac Mutant #Axolotls, Ambystoma mexicanum LARRY F. LEMANSKI doi.org/10.1093/icb/... #amphibians #science

In this paper I describe morphological, biochemical and immunofluorescence studies which compare the contractile proteins in normal and mutant hearts. In addition, morphological studies on anterior endoderm, an important heart inductor tissue in salamanders, are reviewed. Detailed electron microscopic studies show that normal heart myocytes contain numerous well-organized myofibrils. Although mutant heart cells contain a few myosin and actin filaments, there are no organized myofibrils. Instead, amorphous proteinaceous collections are prominent in the peripheral cytoplasm of the cell where myofibrils would be expected to first form. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows that actin is present in almost normal amounts in mutant hearts, myosin heavy chain is reduced and tropomyosin is virtually absent. #Immunofluorescence studies reveal that myosin, α-actinin and tropomyosin are located prominently in theorganized myofibrils of normal heart cells. In mutant hearts myosin is localized almost exclusively in the amorphous collections at the cell peripheries, α-actinin also is distributed mainly in the peripheral cell cytoplasm.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Meet IOB co author Kathy L. - a landlocked Utahn, who became a #shark tagging water lover- read in full iobopen.com/2026/10/01/m... & read A Head of the Curve: Bonnethead #Shark (Sphyrna tiburo) Cephalofoil #Morphology and Trophic #Ecology Liu et al doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

During college, I was able to spend a semester around Panama with SIT learning about tropical #ecology, marine #ecosystems, and #biodiversity #conservation and the vast variety of research in those fields. It was an incredible opportunity to be in each ecosystem as we learned and implemented various methodologies to conduct our own research projects. As we went from cloud forests to urban natural parks to island archipelagos, my love of hands-on research flourished. The more time we spent in #mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and coral #reefs, the more my interest in those #coastal habitats grew. For my end of semester independent project, I chose to continue exploring those areas and studied reef fish diversity and distribution in seagrass and coral reef habitats off Isla Bastimentos. Days were spent kayaking, snorkeling, and readjusting schedules around the torrential downpours of the rainy season. I loved being able to play around with data visualization and seeing the collected data culminate into a final publication.

My path in science then brought me to Chile to study intertidal grazers, to Australia to offer support with fish ID in seagrass #habitats, and to remote areas of Utah with the Division of Wildlife Resources surveying trout and other native species, before leading me to Miami for my Master’s degree."

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Kai The Fish Guy @kaithefishguy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Had an amazing 8 days on the island of Buru in the Maluku Archipelago! Here are some notable pictures.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

It's Axolotls week for ICB! " We sought to determine if suction feeding strikes and food processing chews involve elastic mechanisms..."" from Caitlin Panessiti et al's doi.org/10.1093/icb/... #science #amphibians

It's Axolotls week for ICB!

" We subjected #Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) to changes from warm (23°C), via medium (14°C), to cold (6°C) temperature across most of their thermal tolerance range, and recorded jaw #kinematics during feeding on crickets. We sought to determine if suction feeding strikes and food processing chews involve elastic mechanisms and, specifically, if muscular versus elastic contribution vary with temperature for gape opening and closing."

from

#Thermal Sensitivity of Axolotl Feeding Behaviors

by Caitlin Panessiti , Mateo Rull-Garza , Gabriella Rickards , Nicolai Konow

https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab120

#science #amphibians

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

IOB "Cephalofoil curvature and sexual #dimorphism In both locations, males had more pointed cephalofoils than females, as exemplified in Fig. 5. from Liu et al A Head of the Curve: Bonnethead #Shark (Sphyrna tiburo) Cephalofoil #Morphology and Trophic #Ecology doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

Differences in cephalofoil shape between females and males were not always visually distinct but a Tukey post-hoc test revealed significant differences between sexes (Fig. 6). Female cephalofoils were pointier in immature individuals and became significantly rounder with maturity in both Biscayne Bay and Tampa Bay. Mature Tampa Bay females had the roundest cephalofoils. Male cephalofoils also trended towards the cephalofoil becoming rounder with maturity (clasper calcification)."

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

ICB - tagging onto yesterday's blog- a throwback share Thermal Sensitivity of #Axolotl Feeding #Behaviors by Caitlin Panessiti , Mateo Rull-Garza , Gabriella Rickards , Nicolai Konow doi.org/10.1093/icb/... #aquatic #vertebrates #amphibians #science

#Musculoskeletal movement results from muscle contractions, recoil of elastic tendons, aponeuroses, and ligaments, or combinations thereof. Muscular and elastic contributions can vary both across behaviors and with changes in temperature. Skeletal muscles reach peak contraction speed at a temperature optimum with performance declining away from that optimum by approximately 50% per 10°C, following the Q10 principle. Elastic recoil action, however, is less temperature sensitive. We subjected Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) to changes from warm (23°C), via medium (14°C), to cold (6°C) temperature across most of their thermal tolerance range, and recorded jaw kinematics during feeding on crickets. We sought to determine if suction feeding strikes and food processing chews involve elastic mechanisms and, specifically, if muscular versus elastic contribution vary with temperature for gape opening and closing. Measurements of peak and mean speed for gape opening and closing during strikes and chews across temperature treatments were compared with Q10-based predictions. We found that strike gape speed decreased significantly from warm and medium to cold treatments, indicating low thermal robustness, and no performance-enhancement due to elastic recoil.

For chews, peak, and mean gape closing speeds, as well as peak gape opening speed, also decreased significantly from warm to cold treatments. However, peak gape opening and closing speeds for chews showed performance-enhancement, consistent with a previously demonstrated presence of elastic action in the Axolotl jaw system. Our results add to a relatively small body of evidence suggesting that elastic recoil plays significant roles in #aquatic #vertebrate feeding systems, and in cyclic food processing mechanisms.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

IOB In this study, cephalofoil #morphology was assessed by sex and maturity for #bonnethead #sharks in Biscayne Bay and Tampa Bay, #Florida." from A Head of the Curve: Bonnethead Shark (Sphyrna tiburo) Cephalofoil Morphology and Trophic #Ecology K Liu et al Kathy L. doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

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Liz Butler @lizlagomorph.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

In one month! #SciArtSeptember returns for a 6th year. Open to all who are curious about the places where art and science connect. Make new work, post works in progress, or share old favourites. Post when and what you like. 🐡 #SciArt #SciComm

A banner image promoting the art challenge Sci Art September. The image features text and a drawing of a trout on an off-white background. The text includes the title, Sci Art September, month-long art challenge. The text also includes a list of weekly categories and daily prompts. The first category is colour. This category covers the first 10 words of the month. The daily words are: Malachite, violet, sanguine, azure, saffron, coral, fawn, ruby, ivory, woad. The second category is shape. It covers the 11th through 20th words. The daily words are: Heart, teardrop, diamond, crescent, honeycomb, scallop, eyelet, almond, star, meander. The third category is medium. This category covers the last 10 words of the month. The daily words are: Kaolin, silk, copper, down, jade, cedar, quill, linen, pelt, carbon. At the bottom of the image there is a description. It reads: Year 6, 2026; from nature; hosted by @LizLagomorph.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

IOB A Head of the Curve: #Bonnethead #Shark (Sphyrna tiburo) Cephalofoil #Morphology and Trophic #Ecology K Liu⁠, J R Graham, H Ro, S L Kim, T R Wiley, J M Gardiner, L J Baker, C Macdonald doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

ICB From Jurassic to 21st century: #Axolotl’s Journey By Andrea Jivanny Hernandez Ramirez, a #LatinAmericanHeritageMonth piece (Sept 15th- Oct 15th) read in full integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2026/09/28/f... #amphibians #biology #science

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

ICB's special Sunday #Art in #bio in celebration of @lizlagomorph.bsky.social 's #SciArtSeptember This installment is by PhD, Taylor N. Black-Bergrud integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/fine-art-ame... & see Taylor's darter she donated for use for @sicb.bsky.social student scholarships

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Special Sunday IOB blog by Jacob Goldman (SICB student writer) on Peter Wolleben's The Hidden Life of Trees ( Greystone Books ) read in full iobopen.com/2026/09/27/t... #nonfiction #book #trees #plants #Science

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Meet ICB co authors of doi.org/10.1093/icb/... from the Murphy lab www.murphyfluidslab.com/members Evan is interested in experimental fluid mechanics & low Reynolds number #aerodynamics. Ferhat is interested in experimental fluid #mechanics & low Reynolds number flows. #insects #science

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

IOB Meet Caroline Sullivan, co author on Orientation of Blacktip #Sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) to Underwater Sound doi.org/10.1093/iob/... read more biology.fau.edu/news/marine-... connect Linked in www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-... #acoustics #science #biology

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

ICB "In particular, we quantify wing kinematics for hovering and slow upwards swimming.." from Swimming Kinematics and Hydrodynamics of a Subtropical Sea Angel Abdullah Aldaddi , et al's doi.org/10.1093/icb/... #science #biology

Fig. 2 CAD model of sea angel showing the tracked points in body (X’Y’Z’) and global (XYZ) coordinate systems. As shown in (A), the body coordinate system, with point g as the origin, moved with the animal. The body angle θ was calculated by measuring the angle between Z and Z’ as shown in (B).

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

IOB "This study quantified the distance that blacktip #sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) oriented to sound stimuli and determined that responses could be consistently initiated from the #acoustic far field..." from doi.org/10.1093/iob/... Sullivan et al #biology #science #marinebiology

Fig. 3

Stimulus waveform (A) and #spectrograms of the three experimental stimuli (B: 100–200 Hz; C: 200–400 Hz; and D: 400–800 Hz), and the control stimulus (E: 10,000 Hz). The spectrograms depict the intensity (red = high intensity, blue = low intensity; dB; z-axis) of frequency (kHz; y-axis) vs. time (s; x-axis).

shark image from

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/blacktip-shark/

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"Swimming is an important but poorly understood behavior for #gymnosomes..." from ICB's Swimming #Kinematics and #Hydrodynamics of a #Subtropical Sea Angel Abdullah Aldaddi , Evan Williams , Ferhat Karakas , Amy Maas , David Murphy doi.org/10.1093/icb/... #Science

Fig. 1 A sequence of images from two perpendicular synchronized high-speed cameras showing one complete cycle in hovering. The cycle starts at the middle of the recovery phase, denoted as t’ = 0, where t’ is the time normalized by cycle period. Each stroke cycle consists of two power and recovery phases. The right wing is outlined in red.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

IOB learn more about Orientation of Blacktip #Sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) to Underwater Sound C L Sullivan , & insta @sharkmigration et al doi.org/10.1093/iob/... & WATCH youtube that is associated with it youtu.be/lAN5Ra4Er-w?... #research #acoustic #science

Fig. 2

Spatial representation of the experimental set up. The boat is anchored in 2–5 m depth of water with the underwater speaker suspended 1 m below the surface and located ∼13–19 m from the boat. The known length of the boat calibrates the scale to measure the distance at which the shark responds to the sound stimulus.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

ICB now in issue Swimming #Kinematics and #Hydrodynamics of a #Subtropical Sea Angel Abdullah Aldaddi , Evan Williams , Ferhat Karakas , Amy Maas , David Murphy doi.org/10.1093/icb/... "...the kinematics and fluid dynamics of gymnosome swimming are not well understood..." #science

Sea angels (gymnosomatous pteropods) are small #zooplanktonic shell-less marine snails inhabiting the meso- and #epipelagic zones. They swim in an intermediate Reynolds number regime using highly flexible, wing-like parapodia in order to capture prey, avoid predators, and perform diel vertical migration. However, the kinematics and fluid dynamics of gymnosome swimming are not well understood, particularly for species residing in low-viscosity, subtropical waters. Here we use high-speed stereophotogrammetry and dual brightfield particle image velocimetry (PIV) systems to investigate the swimming of the rare subtropical species Pneumoderma atlantica, captured off the coast of Bermuda. In particular, we quantify wing kinematics for hovering and slow upwards swimming and compare our results with morphologically similar temperate and polar species, which can be up to twice as large and swim in water up to twice as viscous. Like tiny insects flying in a similar regime, the chordwise Reynolds number appears to be inversely related to the wing angle of attack and stroke plane. Thus both the small, warm-water and the large polar gymnosomes seem to use their wings more like paddles to generate upward forces while the temperate species seems to use its parapodia more like wings to generate lift. Further, we provide the first flow measurements of a swimming gymnosome, these at somewhat higher swimming speeds, which show that gymnosomes employ an unsteady flow interaction between the wings and body (similar to the clap-and-fling mechanism) twice during each stroke cycle which likely generates additional lift. These findings provide insight into how similar locomotion modes may be adapted to different viscosities and into the widespread use of lift-generating, clap-and-fling-like mechanisms among marine #snails.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

IOB #Sharks respond to low frequency pulsed sounds but are presumed to lack the capacity to detect these sounds beyond the acoustic near field, where particle motion dominates. Orientation of Blacktip Sharks to Underwater #Sound Sullivan et al doi.org/10.1093/iob/... #science #marinebiology

Fig. 1
Representation of the acoustic fields. The sound travels from the source in circulating and propagating waves as a hydrodynamic flow dominated by particle motion (near field). As the sound travels beyond three wavelengths from the source, it consists of only propagating waves being dominated by pressure waves (far field). At that distance the sound pressure waves must be transduced, typically by a gas-filled-organ, to stimulate the hair cells of the inner ear to be detected.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

ICB #Art in #Bio celebrating #SciArtSeptember with @lizlagomorph.bsky.social & crew with this latest on Massimiliano Mandas "#Nature ,is not only something I represent, but also something that influences the way I construct an image." integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/fine-art-ame...

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

IOB Orientation of Blacktip #Sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) to Underwater #Sound Sullivan et al doi.org/10.1093/iob/... This study quantified the distance that blacktip sharks oriented to sound stimuli and determined that responses could be consistently initiated from the acoustic far field.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

ICB Friday Fresh Ink! Small #insects actively respond to updrafts by modulating their wing and body #kinematics Evan J Williams , David Murphy et al doi.org/10.1093/icb/... Murphy www.murphyfluidslab.com #science

Small insects utilize atmospheric flows to facilitate appetitive and migratory behaviors. In the convective and nocturnal boundary layers, these insects may experience high-speed updrafts which can present significant aerodynamic challenges. While it is known from field observations that small insects resist these updrafts, how they do so while maintaining flight stability is unknown. Here we investigate the flight behavior of two insect species, the 3-mm fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and the 2-mm fungus gnat (Lycoriella ingenua), while exposed to quiescent air and to a steady 0.433 m s−1 upward flow within a vertical wind tunnel. We used high-speed 3D photogrammetry to capture flight trajectories and wing and body kinematics. Both species maintained a constant vertical flight velocity in quiescent conditions and in the updraft by maintaining a consistent beat frequency while significantly reducing their stroke amplitude (and thus saving energy), though with some size-specific differences. The smaller fungus gnats kept the dorsal portion of their stroke more so than the larger fruit flies, thereby maintaining the lift-generating clap-and-fling mechanism which is generally required at the lower Reynolds numbers at which they operate. Both species also maintained a similar relative flow velocity, which combines wing tangential velocity and animal velocity with respect to the free stream. Finally, the updraft somewhat affected flight stability in the fungus gnat (as seen in its more sinuous flight trajectories) but not in the fruit fly, which did not change the sinuosity of its trajectories in the updraft. These findings provide a bridge between large- and small-scale studies of small insects in the atmosphere.

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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

New paper out in Integrative and Comparative Biology (@sicbjournals.bsky.social) lead by @morganefo.bsky.social ! 🥳Morgane investigated the shape variation throughout the life cycle of the Alpine newts using GMM on skulls and mandibles🦎 doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Be sure to read ICB/SICB's S02: #DINOSAURS TO #DRONES: COMPARATIVE APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING #FLIGHT & see their amazing covers doi.org/10.1093/icb/... Lorence et al doi.org/10.1093/icb/... France et al doi.org/10.1093/icb/... Chen et al & more #Biomechanics #science #Aerodynamics

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

IOB "... there are some cases when using an existing concept assessment does not align with the goals of the person administering the assessment...." A E Foltz ,et al doi.org/10.1093/iob/... #biology #science #education #pedagogy

Published assessments, which have undergone a substantial development and optimization process, are commonly used to evaluate the impact of curricular and pedagogical innovations. However, there are some cases when using an existing concept assessment does not align with the goals of the person administering the assessment.

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Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology @sicb.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

#SICB Members and Friends, We are happy to announce that registration is open #SICB2027's Annual Meeting · Hundreds of oral and poster presentations spanning #organismal biology, #physiology, #ecology, #evolution, #biomechanics, & more Register Today! cf23.xcddev.com/sicb/store/i...

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

IOB "When an investigator wishes to assess the efficacy of a particular lesson, unit, or course, they have multiple #assessment options..." An adapted process to develop customized assessments to measure the impact of #biology lessons Foltz et al doi.org/10.1093/iob/... #science #biology

...There are currently no guidelines for scaling the process for contexts in which existing concept assessments are misaligned and a comprehensive assessment development process is impractical. Here, we describe an adapted assessment development process to generate lesson-customized assessments. We started with five published biology lessons, covering a broad range of biology topics, and created a lesson-customized assessment for each. Our assessment development process consisted of identifying lesson learning objectives, drafting an initial assessment, soliciting expert feedback and student interviews, and conducting several cycles of review and revision. We provide suggestions to help with practicality and make the process more accessible. Though we developed customized assessments for published biology lessons, our approach is broadly applicable to other cases where customized assessments may be beneficial.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

ICB blog Community building with open-source and #DIY monitoring #tools by @stephbilodeau.bsky.social Simply finding the tools that others have already built is often a real challenge... integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/c... #science #Scientists #technology

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

IOB & Society for the Advancement of #Biology #Education #Research "An adapted process to develop customized assessments to measure the impact of #biology lessons" A E Foltz ,et al doi.org/10.1093/iob/... #scienceeducation #educators #professors #teachers

When instructors, #curriculum developers, or education researchers implement an innovative lesson or develop a shareable lesson plan, they likely want to know if the lesson is effective at facilitating student learning. Published #assessments, which have undergone a substantial development and optimization process, are commonly used to evaluate the impact of curricular and pedagogical innovations. However, there are some cases when using an existing concept assessment does not align with the goals of the person administering the assessment. Concept assessments usually cover a broad content domain spanning entire units, courses, or majors. If an instructor, curriculum developer, or researcher intends to assess learning associated with a discrete time period (e.g., a lesson), a concept assessment may be too broad and thus lack alignment validity. Consequently, they may decide to develop their own assessment. They can accomplish this by writing original questions, using question banks, using questions provided in open educational resources, or a combination of these approaches. Alternatively, they may pursue a time- and resource-intensive comprehensive assessment development process, typically involving several steps to accrue validity evidence. There are currently no guidelines for scaling the process for contexts in which existing concept assessments are misaligned and a comprehensive assessment development process is impractical. Here, we describe an adapted assessment development process to generate lesson-customized assessments. We started with five published biology lessons, covering a broad range of biology topics, and created a lesson-customized assessment for each. ...

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Reposted by SICB journals

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology @sicb.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Thanks so much @oceanfilly.bsky.social for spreading the word about our SICB Fine Art America account fineartamerica.com/profiles/sic... All profits go to student scholarships for SICB www.instagram.com/reel/DdKbQUb...

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Learn more about ICB author Christina Harvey 's work. She is a co author of doi.org/10.1093/icb/... Christina is an engineer and #zoologist who seeks to understand the fundamental principles of #biological #flight. read more birdlab.mae.ucdavis.edu uc-bird-lab.github.io/bird-lab-web...

Christina Harvey is an engineer and zoologist who seeks to understand the fundamental principles of biological flight. Her research combines biomechanics, aerodynamics, flight dynamics, and animal behavior to uncover biological principles and determine which of those principles may benefit engineering designs.
Her background bridges engineering and biology, with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering (McGill University), an MSc in Zoology (University of British Columbia), and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering (University of Michigan). That perspective shapes the BIRD Lab and the Center for Animal Locomotion & Innovation (CALI), where engineers, biologists, veterinarians, and computer scientists work together to answer questions no single discipline could solve alone.
Christina is an Amelia Earhart Fellow and a Packard Fellow. She is passionate about rigorous science, continually refining her mentoring and teaching through evidence and reflection, and building an open, collaborative research environment where curiosity comes first.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

IOB co author Brayan Gutierrez applied µCT imaging and morphometrics approaches to investigate changes to skeletal density and body shape during #fish #evolution. Brayan went on to pursue a Master’s degree at Rice University co author on doi.org/10.1093/iob/... read more www.daanelab.org

behind the author is

Fig. 3

Patterns of bone porosity across the Baikal sculpin radiation. (A) Mean BVF, a measure of porosity, in selected Baikal sculpin species, comparing benthic and pelagic/benthopelagic (Comephorus and Cottocomephorus) groups. (B) Dentary cross-sections (taken at the plane indicated by lines) highlighting differences in porosity between representative species. (C) Mean BVF differences between benthic and pelagic groups, with ANOVA P-values transformed via −log₁₀ for visualization (Table S3). Dashed line indicates a P-value of 0.05.

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Meet ICB co author Vikram Baliga of doi.org/10.1093/icb/... Vikram teaches #biostatistics and data #science for the #Biology Program at UBC. He has also used motion capture and virtual reality to investigate flight control strategies in #birds. connect www.linkedin.com/in/vikrambal...

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

IOB "These results demonstrate a repeated skeletal lightening and body shape changes accompanying benthic-to- #pelagic transitions..." Parallel Reduction in Skeletal Density During Benthic to Pelagic Transitions in Baikal #Sculpins doi.org/10.1093/iob/... Gutierrez et al #biology #science

Fig. 2 Patterns of skull bone mineral density across the Baikal sculpin radiation. (A) Mean percentage of hydroxyapatite, comparing benthic and pelagic/benthopelagic (Comephorus and Cottocomephorus) groups. (B) Skull density heatmaps of representative Baikal sculpins, including two pelagic species ( C. baikalensis and Cot. grewingkii ) and four benthic species ( Ab. pallidus , Ab. thermalis , Ab. platy- cephalus , and P. knerii ). (C) Mean differences in hydroxyapatite percentage between benthic and pelagic groups, with ANOVA P -values transformed via −log1 0 for visualization ( Table S3). Dashed line indicates a P -value of 0.05.

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