Aspects of olfactory mediated orientation and communication in Salamandrina perspicillata (Amphibia Caudata): an experimental approach

Abstract

Chemical communication is known to be of great importance in animals, particularly in the dynamic processes involving social behaviours and spatial orientation. Yet in many animal species exhibiting social behaviours, the mechanisms at the base of interindividual recognition and spatial orientation are virtually unknown. We addressed this issue in a series of laboratory experiments using Salamandrina perspicillata, an Italian endemic salamander, by means of Y-maze test. Individuals did not discriminate between the soil from the site of capture and other substrates. Salamanders were able to recognise their own chemical cue by selecting the arm housing the paper soaked in their body secretions, so demonstrating their capacity for following a trail of their own chemical cues. No interindividual (either homosexual or heterosexual) attraction was observed. Therefore, substrate-borne chemical cues produced by conspecifics of S. perspicillata seem to have no sociosexual significance for individuals from their own populations. Our results show a clear influence of chemical cues on individual behaviour in S. perspicillata. Although our data reveal such a behavioural trait, no evidence of gregariousness was found in the tested population.