Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 3

The first volume in this series appeared in 1977, the second in 1980. From these volumes and the present one, some research trends in chemical communication can be perceived. In the 1977 volume, studies on 13 animal taxa were reported. In the present volume, the number is 25. This taxonomie diversi­ fication of research since the first volume of this series demon­ strates the wide variety of ecological adaptions, although no new general principles of chemical communication have ernerged. Further­ more, divergences in chemical comrnunication below the species level have become more apparent. In general, more sophisticated observa­ tions and techniques have led to greater awareness of the com­ plexities in chemical communication. As such awareness has also developed in the field of insect chemical communication, there has been a corresponding increase in the identification of the chemical compounds involved. However, in the vertebrates, no such correlation exists; in the present volume, conclusive chemical identifications of semiochemicals are remarkable by their paucity.

One: Reptiles.- Strike-Induced Chemosensory Searching by Rattlesnakes: The Role of Envenomation-Related Chemical Cues in the Post-Strike Environment.- Fossil and Comparative Evidence for Possible Chemical Signaling in the Mammal-Like Reptiles.- Two: Vomeronasal Organ.- Snake Tongue Flicking Behavior: Clues to Vomeronasal System Functions.- The Accessory Olfactory System: Role in Maintenance of Chemoinvestigatory Behavior.- Flehmen Behavior and Vomeronasal Organ Function.- Three: Neuroendocrinology of Olfaction.- Olfaction in Central Neural and Neuroendocrine Systems: Integrative Review of Olfactory Representations and Interrelations.- The Neuroendocrinology of Scent Marking.- Four: Chemical Signals and Endocrines.- Priming Pheromones in Mice.- Pheromonal Control of the Bovine Ovarian Cycle.- Synchronizing Ovarian and Birth Cycles by Female Pheromones.- Volatile and Nonvolatile Chemosignals of Female Rodents: Differences in Hormonal Regulation.- Five: Chemical Signals and Genetics.- Communication Disparities Between Genetically-Diverging Populations of Deermice.- Six: Field Studies (Pheromone Ecology).- The Ecological Importance of the Anal Gland Secretion of Yellow Voles (Lagurus luteus).- Odor as a Component of Trap Entry Behavior in Small Rodents.- Experimental Modulation of Behavior of Free-Ranging Mammals by Semiochemicals.- Seven: Social Odors: Discrimination and Recognition.- Mechanisms of Individual Discrimination in Hamsters.- Human Olfactory Communications.- Eight: Chemistry.- Studies of the Chemical Composition of Secretions from Skin Glands of the Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus.- Nine: Pheromones and Other Physiological Functions.- Thermal and Osmolarity Properties of Pheromonal Communication in the Gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus.- Ten: Abstracts.- The Evolution of Alarm Pheromones.- Investigation into the Origin(s) of the Freshwater Attractant(s) of the American Eel.- A Pregnancy Block Resulting from Multiple-Male Copulation or Exposure at the Time of Mating in Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).- Olfactory Communication in Kangaroo Rats (D. merriami).- Odor Preferences of Young Rats: Production of an Attractive Odor by Males.- Rate and Location of Scent Marking by Pikas During the Breeding Season.- Effects of Urine on the Response to Carrot-Bait in the European Wild Rabbit.- An Investigation into the ‘Bruce Effect’ in Domesticated Rabbits.- Individual Discrimination on the Basis of Urine in Dogs and Wolves.- Throat-Rubbing in Red Howler Nbnkeys (Alouatta seniculus).- Author Index.