Growing evidence exists that aposematic and toxic prey may be included in a predator's diet when the predator experiences physiological stress. The tree sparrow Passer montanus is known to have a significant portion of aposematic and toxic ladybirds in its natural diet. Here, we present experiments testing the attack and eating rate of the tree sparrow toward the invasive aposematic harlequin l...

Harlequin syndrome is a rare autonomic disorder characterized by anhidrosis and lack of unilateral flushing the face, which may affect cervical thoracic regions. Paradoxically, there compensatory sweating on contralateral side to alteration. It idiopathic in most cases, but it can be congenital or secondary structural post-surgical iatrogenic lesions. Treatment directed at causative factor. We d...

Collodion baby (CB) is normally diagnosed at the time of birth and refers to a newborn infant that is delivered with a lambskin-like membrane encompassing the total body surface. CB is not a specific disease entity, but is a common phenotype in conditions like harlequin ichthyosis, lamellar ichthyosis, nonbullous congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma, and trichothiodystrophy. We report a CB tha...

Rabbits may develop a self-injurious behavior and hurt themselves severely. Lactating females can, in turn, hurt their newborn kits by chewing or excessively licking their ears and their limbs. Self-injurious behavior of body regions is observed in rabbits suffering from specific pathologies, in does (adult female rabbits) with a very strong maternal instinct (Figure 1) as well as in individual...

Harlequin ichthyosis (HI)--the most severe form of keratinizing disorders, often lethal in the neonatal period--is characterized by a profound thickening of the keratin skin layer, a dense "armor"-like scale that covers the body, and contraction abnormalities of the eyes, ears, and mouth. In this issue of the JCI, Akiyama et al. report that mutations in ABCA12 caused defective lipid transport t...