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Pheromonal Markers as Territorial Advertisement by Terrestrial Salamanders

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Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 4

Abstract

The existence of territoriality in salamanders was firmly established only about seven or eight years ago. Before that time, there was some evidence that individuals of several species engaged in intraspecific conflicts and that non-random distributions of individuals occurred. However, so little was known about the behavior of salamanders (other than courtship and homing) that it was impossible to piece together a comprehensive picture of spatial interactions. Today there is still less information about territorial behavior of salamanders than there is about almost any other group of vertebrates, and less than for many groups of invertebrates. The evolution, function, mechanisms, and ontogeny of territoriality are only vaguely understood. What knowledge does exist is confined to the salamander family Plethodontidae (the lungless salamanders), and within this family, only seven or eight species have been critically studied. These species are distributed among the three genera Aneides, Desmognathus, and Plethodon. The tendency thus far has been for researchers to study a few species in detail, rather than to examine superficially numerous

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana, 70504, USA

    Robert G. Jaeger

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  1. Robert G. Jaeger
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA

    David Duvall

  2. State University of New York, Syracuse, New york, USA

    Dietland Müller-Schwarze  & Robert M. Silverstein  & 

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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York

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Jaeger, R.G. (1986). Pheromonal Markers as Territorial Advertisement by Terrestrial Salamanders. In: Duvall, D., Müller-Schwarze, D., Silverstein, R.M. (eds) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 4. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2235-1_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2235-1_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9310-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2235-1

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