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Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 9 pp 53–60Cite as

Molecular Approaches in Chemical Communication of Mammals

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Abstract

Chemical communication in animals uses olfactory signals, often called pheromones, that are mainly volatile components of various excretions encoding biologically relevant information (Sokolov and Zinkevich, 1974, 1979, 1983, 1986; Sokolov et al., 1984). In general, the signals are diffused in the air and detected by specialized cells, namely, the receptors of the main olfactory system and of the accessory chemoreception system. Chemical communication is generally examined with respect to the influence of olfactory signals on the animal behavior or state, according to the classical model of “stimulus -response”. An essential distinction of this communication form from the optical and acoustic communication is the fact that an olfactory signal can be characterized as a discrete marker in terms of the molecular structures, whereas optical and acoustic signals can be placed along their respective energy spectra.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology and Evolution Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky pr., 33, Moscow, 117071, Russia

    Edward P. Zinkevich & Varvara S. Vasilieva

Authors
  1. Edward P. Zinkevich
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  2. Varvara S. Vasilieva
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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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Zinkevich, E.P., Vasilieva, V.S. (2001). Molecular Approaches in Chemical Communication of Mammals. 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_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0671-3_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5187-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0671-3

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