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Structure and Function of Skin Glands

  • Chapter
Chemical Signals in Vertebrates

Abstract

It is fitting that in this symposium on “Chemical Signals in Vertebrates” we concern ourselves first with the tissue and glandular sources of chemical signals. The particular chemical signals selected for consideration here are the pheromones. These have been defined as chemical signals secreted to the outside of the body by one individual, and received by a second individual of the same species, in which, as a result, a specific reaction occurs. This reaction can be manifested as a definite and characteristic behavior or behavior pattern, or the modification of a particular physiological or developmental process (Karlson and Lüscher, 1959; Butler, 1970). Although the definition of pheromones and appreciation of their biological significance derived primarily from chemical signals in insects, work of both earlier and recent date demonstrates the importance of pheromones for vertebrate animals of different groups from fish to “higher” mammals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, and Endocrinology-Reproductive Physiology Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

    W. B. Quay

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  1. W. B. Quay
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, New York, USA

    Dietland Müller-Schwarze

  2. Upstate Medical Center, State University of New York, Syracuse, New York, USA

    Maxwell M. Mozell

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© 1977 Plenum Press, New York

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Quay, W.B. (1977). Structure and Function of Skin Glands. In: Müller-Schwarze, D., Mozell, M.M. (eds) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2364-8_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2364-8_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-2366-2

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