Chemical Communication in Reptiles: Order Squamata

Chemoperception is the ability to detect and differentiate certain volatile chemical substances existing in the surrounding environment.The ability to detect chemical stimuli in reptiles has been studied mainly in organisms belonging to the order Squamata.Most of the work carried out has used snakes and saurians as models, where they report that chemical signals play a very important role in their ecology and behavior.They allow them to recognize the scent trails of organisms of the same species, either for the selection of a potential mate or aggregation for behaviors such as hibernation; Likewise, in the interaction with organisms of other species, chemoperception allows us to detect the smell of potential prey or that of predators; in the former, generating the display of attack behaviors when in contact with the odorous stimulus; and in the case of the latter, developing anti-predatory strategies.