Preprint Review Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Pheromone Sensing in Mammals: A Review on the Vomeronasal System

Version 1 : Received: 27 August 2023 / Approved: 29 August 2023 / Online: 29 August 2023 (09:52:04 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Torres, M.V.; Ortiz-Leal, I.; Sanchez-Quinteiro, P. Pheromone Sensing in Mammals: A Review of the Vomeronasal System. Anatomia 2023, 2, 346-413. Torres, M.V.; Ortiz-Leal, I.; Sanchez-Quinteiro, P. Pheromone Sensing in Mammals: A Review of the Vomeronasal System. Anatomia 2023, 2, 346-413.

Abstract

This review delves into the significance of chemical communication in mammals, with an emphasis on the role of the vomeronasal system in sensing pheromone-mediated interactions. The vomeronasal system shapes a variety of social and sexual behaviors, including reproduction, hierarchy formation, maternal bonding, and species recognition. Intriguingly, this system presents a vast degree of evolutionary variability, more so than variations observed in the olfactory system. This adaptive diversity underscores the challenges in studying the vomeronasal system, emphasizing the need for detailed research into its neuroanatomy and functional morphology. This review traverses an array of topics central to our understanding of chemical communication in mammals. We begin with the foundational role and basic concepts of chemocommunication. This is followed by an in-depth exploration of the olfactory systems. Subsequently, the neuroanatomical underpinnings of the vomeronasal system are juxtaposed against those of the olfactory system. Our focus then shifts to an exhaustive study of the sensory element of the vomeronasal system, the vomeronasal organ, and the integrating center of this information, the accessory olfactory bulb. The discussion extends to secondary projections of both the olfactory and vomeronasal systems in the light of the dual olfactory hypothesis. The review culminates with a detailed look at four specific models of vomeronasal system organization belonging to four evolutionarily distinct mammalian families: rodents, marsupials, herpestids, and bovids. These have been meticulously analyzed by the authors, aiming to spotlight the significant morphofunctional differences stemming from the adaptive changes imprinted on the system.

Keywords

chemical communication; olfactory systems; vomeronasal organ; accessory olfactory bulb; dual olfactory hypothesis; mammalian evolution

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology

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