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Slowworm pits?

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will View Drop Down
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    Posted: 19 Apr 2017 at 2:58pm
Thanks Gemma, that's very helpful - I wonder if they linked the ability to use pheromones with these pits?  - as you say, I'll have to get to the bottom of it or I won't be able to sleep at night!Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2017 at 1:40pm
There seems to have been study regarding pheromones in Anguis fragilis, for example:


Reading this research or referenced articles might help Will, as at some point someone may have defined or at least speculated on how the scents are deposited.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2017 at 1:26pm
I've read the results of experiments using Vaseline Will, though usually to be fair it is used to cover up much large 'pits' or the nostrils. I do not think they need mini blindfolds lol.

I like Caleb's suggestion, the small size does seem to suggest secretion rather than detection. General males only have femoral pores, in some species of reptiles both species have them present but they are generally larger in the males. 

I would suggest checking images of males and females is the next logical step in the investigation.

You are just going to have to get to the bottom of it Will!


Edited by GemmaJF - 19 Apr 2017 at 1:28pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote will Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2017 at 7:57pm
@Gemma - thanks for the suggestion.  Playing devil's advocate I can see people asking how we know the vaseline didn't get wiped off/interfere with their nostrils/do we need them to wear tiny blindfolds to make it a properly controlled experiment etc etc and then you have the problem of getting the little darlings to feed in an observable setting like a small vivarium and also the question of controlling for size, appetite etc.

I think a good quality scanning electron micrograph would be a start, but you'd need a dead animal for that - oh, and a good quality SEM as wellLOL

@Caleb - interesting, I hadn't considered that possibility - if analagous to femoral pores then only males should have them - ought to be easy enough to photograph females to see if this is the case.  If so, how would they be used in the secretive world of the slowworm, I wonder?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Caleb Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2017 at 7:17pm
My wild guess is that they're pheromone-secreting pores. They haven't got anywhere to put femoral pores...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2017 at 5:22pm
If there is nothing in the literature and I cannot find anything, what about a 'prey targeting' experiment? Cover the pits with Vaseline and see if it reduces a slow worms ability to detect and target prey? 

It is a simple non-invasive and non-harmful experiment that 'might' reveal the pits actually have a function?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2017 at 5:18pm
I thought they seemed reasonably uniform on the images I looked at. But there were some images where I could not make them out at all, but then that could be colour variation of individuals making them hard to spot in some images.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote will Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2017 at 5:14pm
Hi Gemma

I definitely don't think they're anomalies or mites as they are distributed so regularly along the trailing edges of the scales - like rivets, almost.  But as to what they are, or how I could prove my hunch I have no idea - I guess I need to find out who is a world expert on Anguid lizards.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2017 at 5:05pm
It is interesting, my gut feeling is they are just a little anomaly in the scales or the work of mites or something lol. But it might be worth looking at the heat sensitive structures of the pit vipers and particularly the labial pits found in the boas and pythons. We know other reptile species have developed specialist sense organs in this area so it could be worth investigating it further.




Edited by GemmaJF - 18 Apr 2017 at 5:16pm
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will View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote will Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2017 at 4:36pm
Interesting Gemma - perhaps routes for nerves going from the 'pits' to the cranium...  or maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I'd love there to be something to it!
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