Chemical Signals, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1980
Vertebrates and Aquatic Invertebrates

Research on chemical communication in animals is in a very active and exciting phase; more species are studied, data are accumulating, concepts are changing, and practical application seems feasible. While most of the work on chemical ecology and chemical sig­ nals deals with insects, vertebrate communication provides a formidable challenge and progress has been slow. Joint efforts and frequent direct contacts of ecologists, behaviorists, psychologists, physiologists, histologists and chemists are required. Such an interdisciplinary exchange of information took place on the occasion of the Symposium on Chemical Signals in Vertebrates and Aquatic Animals in Syracuse, New York, from May 31 to June 2, 1979. More than one hundred investigators from seven countries participated, and the papers presented comprise this volume. Since the first Symposium on Vertebrate Chemical Signals at Saratoga Springs in 1976, considerable progress has been made with field studies, the physiology of the vomeronasal organ, and its role in reproductive behavior. The behavioral functions and chemi­ cal nature of priming pheromones are better understood. Efforts to isolate and identify mammalian pheromones are gaining ground, and the bioassays are becoming more sophisticated. In addition to formal presentations, one evening of the Symposi­ um was devoted to round-table discussions of particular topics. The selected themes indicate the "growing points" of chemical communi­ cation research: priming pheromones, vomeronasal organ, bioassay, and practical applications.

One: Field Studies.- Some Responses of a Free Living Community of Rodents to the Odors of Predators.- The Urine Marking Behavior and Movement Patterns of Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) During a Breeding and Post- Breeding Period.- Marking Behavior in Wild Red Foxes in Response to Synthetic Volatile Urinary Compounds.- Chemical Signals in Alarm Behavior of Deer.- Territorial Marking Behavior by the South American Vicuna.- Induction of Settling and Metamorphosis of Planktonic Molluscan (Haliotis) Larvae. III: Signaling by Metabolites of Intact Algae is Dependent on Contact.- Two: Reproductive Behavior.- Relationships Between Aggression, Scent Marking and Gonadal State in a Primate, the Tamarin Saguinus fuscicollis.- Olfactory Aspects of Rutting Behavior in the Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus).- Three: Food Responses.- Chemosensory Searching by Rattlesnakes During Predatory Episodes.- What the Nose Learns from the Mouth.- Rat Pup’s Food Consumption as a Function of Preweaning Tastes and Odors.- Four: Learning.- Experience Affects Behavioral Responses to Sex Odors.- Development of Olfactory Attraction by Young Norway Rats.- Odor Aversion Learning by Neonatal Rats: Ontogeny of Osmic Memory.- Five: Priming.- The Influence of Pheromones on Puberty in Rodents.- The Modulation of Reproduction by Priming Pheromones in House Mice: Speculations on Adaptive Function.- The Major Histocompatibility Complex as a Source of Odors Imparting Individuality Among Mice.- Six: Vomeronasal Organ.- Behavioral and Stimulus Correlates of Vomeronasal Functioning in Reptiles: Feeding, Grouping, Sex, and Tongue Use.- The Vomeronasal Organ and Accessory Olfactory System in the Hamster.- Chemical Communication in the Guinea Pig: Urinary Components of Low Volatility and Their Access to the Vomeronasal Organ.- The Role of the Vomeronasal System in Mammalian Reproductive Physiology.- Seven: Chemistry.- Chemical Studies of Hamster Reproductive Pheromones.- Chemical Studies of the Primer Mouse Pheromones.- Variation in the Levels of Some Components of the Volatile Fraction of Urine from Captive Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and its Relationships to the State of the Animal.- Eight: Abstracts.- Chemical Signals Associated with Aquatic Prédation Sites.- The Role of Chemoreception in Some Social and Synchronous Behavior of the Crayfish, Procambarus clarkii.- Behavioural and Electrophysiological Effects of Natural Chemical Stimuli in the Goldfish (Carassius auratus).- Olfactory Use in Food-Location at Sea by Tubenosed Pelagic Birds.- Partial Isolation of Pregnancy Block Pheromone in Mice.- The Role of the Tarsal Glands in the Olfactory Communication of the Ontario Moose.- Diosmic Responses to Scent-Signals in Lemur catta.- Studies on Chemical Communication in Some African Bovids.- Author Index.