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Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 9 pp 295–304Cite as

Do Newts Avoid Conspecific Alarm Substances: The Predation Hypothesis Revisited

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Abstract

Predator detection and avoidance are important for prey survival. Upon noticing a predator, most prey will decrease activity, move into refugia, or flee (Lima, 1998). Many prey rely on visual cues to reveal threats, but dense vegetation and turbidity often make vision unreliable in aquatic environments (Kats and Dill, 1998). Therefore, aquatic prey may benefit more from using chemical cues than visual cues to detect predators (Dodson et al., 1994). Numerous studies have demonstrated that aquatic animals use their chemical senses to identify predators and release antipredatory behaviors (Kats and Dill, 1998). In fact, Stauffer and Semlitsch (1993) demonstrated that predators’ chemical cues amplified antipredatory behaviors in Rana lessonae and Rana esculenta tadpoles, but visual cues did not.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, 13902-6000, USA

    Jason R. Rohr & Dale M. Madison

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  1. Jason R. Rohr
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  2. Dale M. Madison
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland

    Anna Marchlewska-Koj

  2. University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

    John J. Lepri

  3. State University of New York, Syracuse, New York, USA

    Dietland Müller-Schwarze

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Rohr, J.R., Madison, D.M. (2001). Do Newts Avoid Conspecific Alarm Substances: The Predation Hypothesis Revisited. In: Marchlewska-Koj, A., Lepri, J.J., Müller-Schwarze, D. (eds) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 9. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0671-3_40

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0671-3_40

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5187-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0671-3

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