The role of pheromones in orchestrating social behaviors in reptiles is reviewed. Although all reptile orders are examined, the vast majority of the literature has dealt only with squamates, primarily snakes and lizards. The literature is surprisingly large, but most studies have explored relatively few behaviors. The evolution of chemical signaling in reptiles is discussed along with behaviors governed by pheromones including conspecific trailing, male-male agonistic interactions, sex recognition and sex pheromones, and reptilian predator recognition. Nonreptilian prey recognition by chemical cues was not reviewed. The recent literature has focused on two model systems where extensive chemical ecology studies have been conducted: the reproductive ecology of garter snakes and the behavioral ecology of Iberian lacertid lizards. In these two systems, enough is known about the chemical constituents that mediate behaviors to explore the evolution of chemical signaling mechanisms that affect life history patterns. In addition, these models illuminate natural and sexual selection processes which have lead to complex chemical signals whose different components and concentrations provide essential information about individuals to conspecifics. Reptiles provide excellent candidates for further studies in this regard not only in squamates, but also in the orders where little experimental work has been conducted to date.

Social behavior and pheromonal communication in reptiles

In his review of reptilian social systems, Brattstrom (1974) stated that “nobody has, in my opinion, designed the appropriate experiments to study social behavior in snakes properly.” In the subsequent decade, studies of snake behavior have proliferated, but Brattstrom’s comments regarding studies of snake sociobiology are essentially still true. Most reports remain observational accounts and descriptions of ritualistic behaviors involved in reproductive and agonistic encounters (reviewed by Carpenter, 1977; Carpenter and Ferguson, 1977). Very few biologists have attempted to experimentally examine the sociobiological functions of such displays. However, for a good example, see Gillingham et al.’s (1983) test of courtship activity of male diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox), after combat dances.

The Role of Pheromone Trails in the Sociobiology of Snakes

Conspecific trailing behaviour of red-sided garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis, in the natural environment

We investigated the ability of Coleonyx variegatus to detect and identify integumentary- derived chemicals of a snake predator by using tail display, a predator-specific, behavioral bioassay of predator identification in geckos. We presented five stimulus conditions to geckos, including skin chemicals from a saurophagous snake (Phyllorhynchus decurtatus) and a nonsaurophagous snake (Chionactis occip- italis), and scored six responses, including attack, tail display, and flight. Skin chemicals from P. decurtatus elicited defensive attacks in 13% of the trials. Tail display occurred in 79% of the trials with skin chemicals from P. decurtatus, and only in response to these chemicals. Thirty-seven percent of the trials involving tail display included rapid flight behavior immediately after tail display. None of the trials with skin chemicals from C. occipitalis resulted in tail display, however 30% of these trials resulted in flight. We conclude that C variegatus is capable of detecting snake integumentary chemicals and identifying the source of the chemicals as a predator. In addition, our data suggest that C. variegatus is capable of distin- guishing the integumentary chemicals of a saurophagous snake from those of a nonsaurophagous species. We suggest that geckos might identify chemical trails left on the substrate by passing snakes and avoid these areas. This might place considerable time/energy constraints on gecko foraging, but the benefits in terms of survival would outweigh these costs.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1564443.pdf

Chemosensory identification of snake predators (Phyllorhynchus decurtatus) by banded geckos (Coleonyx variegatus)

Rattlesnakes may shift between visual (eyes) and infrared (facial pits) stimuli without significant loss of predatory performance during an envenomating strike. The relative equivalency of these proximate stimuli is correlated with the organization of the associated neural pathways in the central nervous system. Visual and infrared information, although gathered by different sensory organs, converges within the optic tectum in an orderly spatiotopical representation where bimodal neurons respond to both stimuli. In turn, the tectum sends efferent pathways directly to premotor areas (brainstem) and indirectly to motor areas (spinal cord) where axial muscles involved in the strike might be activated. On the other hand, rattlesnakes do not maintain a high level of equivalent predatory performance when switching between chemosensory stimuli i.e., olfactory, and vomeronasal information. Deprived of vomeronasal input, strikes drop by about half, and poststrike trailing is lost entirely. Surprisingly, compensation by switching to information delivered via an intact olfactory input does not occur, despite the convergence of chemosensory information within the central nervous system. Finally, the launch of a targeted, envenomating strike involves both these modalities: radiation reception (visual, infrared) and chemoreception (olfactory, vomeronasal). However, in the absence of chemosensory information, the radiation modalities do not completely compensate, nor does the animal maintain a high level of predatory performance. Similarly, in the absence of radiation information, the chemosensory modalities do not completely compensate, nor does the animal maintain a high level of predatory performance. The absence of compensation in this multimodal system is also correlated with an absence of convergence of radiation and chemical information, at least at the level of first and second-order neurons, in the central nervous system.

Rattlesnake hunting behavior : correlations between plasticity of predatory performance and neuroanatomy

Laboratory observations on conspecific and congeneric scent trailing in garter snakes (Thamnophis)

Two experiments were conducted to determine (a) whether male garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) require a functional vomeronasal or olfactory system to return to previously preferred shelter locations and (b) the sensory modalities used by snakes to aggregate in the absence of previously deposited chemical cues. In Experiment 1, snakes with vomeronasal nerve lesions did not return to previously preferred shelter locations when tested individually. However, when tested with a group that included "control" animals, they returned to previously preferred shelters. The shelter-selection behavior of snakes with olfactory nerve lesions improved postoperatively, whereas the behavior of animals with sham lesions was unchanged. In Experiment 2, snakes were tested for aggregation in aquaria in which the substrate and other contents were cleaned between trials. After blindfolding or after olfactory nerve cuts, snakes aggregated at normal levels. When the snakes' vomeronasal ducts were sutured closed, aggregation scores were significantly depressed, although two of the three groups with vomeronasal duct sutures did aggregate just above chance levels. These studies indicate that use of chemical signals by garter snakes in shelter selection and aggregation is mediated by the vomeronasal system and that neither the olfactory nor the visual system is critical for these behaviors.

Laboratory observations of aggregative behavior of garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis: roles of the visual, olfactory, and vomeronasal senses.

A laboratory model of garter snake aggregation behavior is described. Snakes tested in groups of eight established preferred shelter locations and reliably returned to these locations as a group or as individuals when the test aquaria were left undisturbed between trials. When the aquaria were cleaned and the contents were replaced on each trial, preferred shelter locations were not established over trials; however, the snakes were found under shelters in large aggregates more frequently than would be expected by chance. It appears that the snakes deposit cues in the apparatus that are subsequently used to return to preferred locations. Manipulations of various objects in the test arena strongly indicated that the relevant cues are deposited on the paper underlying the preferred shelter.

Laboratory observations of aggregative behavior of garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis.

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Steve B. Heller

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Laboratory observations on conspecific and congeneric scent trailing in garter snakes (Thamnophis)

Laboratory observations of aggregative behavior of garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis: roles of the visual, olfactory, and vomeronasal senses.

Laboratory observations of aggregative behavior of garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis.