Abstract
Tonic immobility (TI) is a stage of anti-predator behavior that in nature is triggered by stimuli provoked by the predator seizing the prey and imposing physical restraint on it. Some works revealed the involvement of olfactory system in the modulation of TI. TI was induced in the laboratory by postural inversion and manual restraint of movements. The toads were divided into two groups: a group of toads was submitted to bilateral section of olfactory nerve (onx group, n=8) and non submitted to stereotaxic procedure (control group, n=6). The mean duration of tree successive TI episodes was measured in two experimental periods: baseline (without odor snake predator) and the post-stimulus (with odor snake). The data were analyzed by paired and unpaired t test with a Pb0.05. The post-stimulus mean TI of control group was significantly higher than the baseline (t=−3,346, P=0,020). No difference was observed in the post-stimulus mean TI duration of onx group when compared with the baseline (t=2,215, P=0.062). TI duration of the baseline in the onx group was significantly higher than the control group (F=7,007, P=0.021). These data suggest the role of olfactory system in the duration of TI and this behavior is modulated by the presence of odor of the predator.
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