Flehmen Response - Chemical Cues

Chemical Cues

The chemical cue obtained by an animal exhibiting the flehmen response is the presence of a non-volatile organic compound. In contrast to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), non-volatile organic compounds are those carbon compounds that do not participate in atmospheric photochemical reactions or evaporate under normal atmospheric conditions. The vomeronasal organ detects non-VOCs, which must have direct contact with the odor source. Sources of non-VOCs relevant to the flehmen response include pheromones and hormones excreted from the genital regions or urine of animals.

Read more about this topic:  Flehmen Response

Famous quotes containing the words chemical and/or cues:

    We are close to dead. There are faces and bodies like gorged maggots on the dance floor, on the highway, in the city, in the stadium; they are a host of chemical machines who swallow the product of chemical factories, aspirin, preservatives, stimulant, relaxant, and breathe out their chemical wastes into a polluted air. The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again.
    Norman Mailer (b. 1923)

    You speak all your part at once, cues and all.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)