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Chemical Signals

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

Synonyms

Gustatory signals; Olfactory signals

Related

Pheromones, Chemical cues, Olfactory cues, Gustatory cues, Kin-recognition, MHC, Arm-pit effect, Self-referent phenotype matching

Definition

Chemical signals can be defined as messages transmitted through chemosensory modalities (smell and taste) and include things like pheromones, which are secreted chemical signals used to trigger a response in another individual. This section includes chemical communication with little effort to distinguish between cues and signals. For some, the difference between a cue and a signal relates to intentionality or whether the communication is incidental (Maynard-Smith and Harper 2003). For others, costs and benefits to the sender and the receiver help make the determination between signals and cues, and this is tied closely to evolutionary analysis (Laidre and Johnstone 2013). Therefore, I will review the diversity of messages possible and the unique aspects of gustation and olfaction as...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA

    Jason N. Bruck

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  1. Jason N. Bruck
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Correspondence to Jason N. Bruck .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University , Rochester, MI, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, MacEwan University, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Shannon Digweed

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Bruck, J.N. (2019). Chemical Signals. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1654-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1654-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

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