Trichomes are cytoplasmic extrusions of epidermal cells. The molecular mechanisms that govern the differentiation of trichome-producing cells are conserved across species as distantly related as mice and flies. Several signaling pathways converge onto the regulation of a conserved target gene, shavenbaby (svb, ovo), which, in turn, stimulates trichome formation. The Drosophila ventral epidermis...

There have been significant efforts recently aimed at improving the aerodynamic performance of aerofoils through the modification of their surfaces. Inspired by the drag-reducing properties of the tooth-like denticles that cover the skin of sharks, we describe here experimental and simulation-based investigations into the aerodynamic effects of novel denticle-inspired designs placed along the s...

A new species of the genus Nihonotrypaea Manning & Tamaki, 1998, Nihonotrypaeahainanensis sp. n., collected from the South China Sea, is described and illustrated. It is distinguishable from Nihonotrypaeaharmandi (Bouvier, 1901), Nihonotrypaeajaponica (Ortmann, 1891), Nihonotrypaeathermophila Lin, Komai & Chan, 2007 and Nihonotrypaeamakarovi Martin, 2013 by having the elongated carpus of the ma...

A new species of the genus Lathriopyga Caroli, from the Republic of Moldova is described and figured. It differs from its closest relative, Lathriopyga bulgarica Smolis, Skarżyński & Pomorski, by the presence of 3+3 chaetae Di on Abd. V, Di1 as a long macrochaeta, Di2, Di3 as short macrochaetae, presence of three chaetae Oc on head and the form of mandible (with 6–7 denticles appearing as a fri...

Based on the principles of morphological computation, we propose a novel approach that exploits the interaction between a passive anisotropic scale-like material (e.g., shark skin) and a non-smooth substrate to enhance locomotion efficiency of a robot walking on inclines. Real robot experiments show that passive tribologically-enhanced surfaces of the robot belly or foot allow the robot to grip...

Autotomy of body parts offers various prey animals immediate benefits of survival in compensation for considerable costs. I found that a land snail Satsuma caliginosa of populations coexisting with a snail-eating snake Pareas iwasakii survived the snake predation by autotomizing its foot, whereas those out of the snake range rarely survived. Regeneration of a lost foot completed in a few weeks ...

Paratrichodina Lom, 1963 comprises more than ten species. Paratrichodina has been found so far in various freshwater, marine fishes and amphibians worldwide. This report provides the first record of Paratrichodina from freshwater fishes in China. Smears with trichodinids were air-dried and then the slides with trichodinid ciliates were impregnated with Klein dry silver impregnation technique in...

Macrobrachium abrahami, new species is described from Vamanapuram River, Kerala, South India. DNA bar-coding using Cytochrome B gene sequences has elucidated the taxonomic status of the new species and the ML tree reveals that M. abrahami sp. nov., is phylogenetically close to M. prabhakarani, but morphologically more similar to M. scabriculum. However, the species shares certain morphological ...