The Chemical Detection of Conspecifics by Juvenile Yarrow's Spiny Lizard, Sceloporus jarrovi

The role of tongue extrusions in the chemical detection of conspecifics was examined in juvenile Yarrow's spiny lizard (Sceloporus jarrovi). A comparison was made between the number of tongue-touches performed under three different experimental conditions: home cage, unfamiliar clean cage and a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of herpetology 1981-03, Vol.15 (1), p.77-81
Main Authors: Bissinger, Barbara E., Simon, Carol A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemical detection
Gender discrimination
Homes
Lizards
Mating behavior
Observational research
Sceloporus jarrovi
Statistical variance
Young animals
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Summary:The role of tongue extrusions in the chemical detection of conspecifics was examined in juvenile Yarrow's spiny lizard (Sceloporus jarrovi). A comparison was made between the number of tongue-touches performed under three different experimental conditions: home cage, unfamiliar clean cage and an unfamiliar cage previously occupied by conspecifics of the same sex. Both males and females exhibited the same number of tongue-touches in each condition. As a result data were combined before analysis of the differences between the three experimental conditions. The rate of tongue-touching in the home cage was significantly less than the rate in the clean unfamiliar cage, which in turn was less than the rate in the unfamiliar marked cage. This indicates that juvenile S. jarrovi deposit chemicals that are detected by conspecifics.
ISSN:0022-1511
1937-2418
DOI:10.2307/1563649