| Title: | "Odorized air current trailing by garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis" |
| Address: | "Department of Biology, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant 48859" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0006-8977 (Print) 0006-8977 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The response of adult red-sided garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis, to airborne odor trails was studied. An airtight T-maze was used, through which a constant airflow was drawn by a vacuum pump. The arms of the 'T' provided a choice between earthworm extract and distilled water. Experiment 1 tested the snake's responses to varying concentrations of earthworm extract. Snakes accurately trailed the extract at tested concentrations (0.0, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100%). At ten percent concentration, tongue-flick rate and speed along the maze increased significantly above lower levels, suggesting the existence of a threshold concentration. A correlation between mean tongue-flick rate and mean speed was demonstrated. Experiment 2 tested the effect of differentially blocked vomeronasal ducts on a snake's ability to trail. When both ducts were blocked, no trailing was observed, suggesting that vomeronasal stimulation is required. Blocking a single duct resulted in a significant number of snakes turning to the side of the functioning duct, suggesting that the tongue-vomeronasal system may function as a chemotaxic system" |
| Keywords: | Animals Arousal/physiology Attention/physiology Chemoreceptor Cells/*physiology Nasal Mucosa/innervation Olfactory Pathways/physiology Pheromones/physiology Predatory Behavior/*physiology Sensory Thresholds/physiology Smell/*physiology Snakes/*physiology; |
| Notes: | "MedlineWaters, R M eng Switzerland 1993/01/01 Brain Behav Evol. 1993; 41(3-5):219-23. doi: 10.1159/000113841" |
