Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 75 (1): 141-147, 2002
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Sources of pheromones in the lizard Liolaemus tenuis
Experimental tests were conducted with the lizard Liolaemus tenuis
(Tropiduridae), to determine the potential sources of pheromones used in its chemical communication, centered in the
phenomenon of self-recognition. During the postreproductive season, feces of both sexes and secretions of precloacal pores (present
only in males) were tested. Stimuli were presented to lizards spread on rocks, and the number of tongue-flicks (TF) to the rocks was
used as a bioassay to determine pheromone recognition. Feces contained pheromones involved in self-recognition, since lizards
showed less TF confronted to rocks with suspensions of their own feces than with suspensions of feces of conspecifics or with water
(control). In order to assess the chemical nature of self- recognition pheromones, feces were submitted to a sequential extraction with
three solvents of increasing polarity, thereby obtaining three feces fractions. There were no differences in TF towards rocks with
different fractions with own feces. Additionally, lizards showed similar TF to rocks with fractions of own and conspecific feces,
suggesting that the separation procedure broke up a complex stimulus into parts that were not active individually as pheromones.
Finally, males did not discriminate between precloacal secretions from themselves and from another male. It is possible that these
secretions convey information relevant to or detectable by females only.
Key words:
self-recognition,
Liolaemus, precloacal secretions, lizards, chemical discrimination, semiochemicals
