constrictor usa señales químicas para reconocer co-específicos y que el olor de individuos de distinta edad provoca respuestas quimiosensoriales de diferente magnitud. Usamos experimentos de protusiones linguales para examinar si esta serpiente es capaz de discriminar entre el olor de individuos maduros y no maduros. En este estudio, usamos 24 individuos de una especie de boa ( Boa constrictor) (12 individuos adultos y 12 inmaduros) que habían sido capturados en diferentes partes de Ecuador y eran mantenidos en cautividad el Vivarium de Quito. La discriminación de la edad basada en señales químicas puede ser especialmente importante para asegurar el acceso a parejas potenciales que sean sexualmente maduras. Muchas serpientes son capaces de usar su sistema quimiosensorial para detectar el olor de individuos coespecíficos, lo que es importante en muchos contextos sociales. Key words: age recognition, Boa constrictor, chemoreception, Ecuador, snakes. We discuss the potential chemical mechanisms that may allow age recognition and its implications for social and sexual behavior of this snake species. The magnitude of the responses was lower to scent of sub adult individuals, and then even lower to scent of juvenile snakes, but in all cases the scent of snakes was discriminated from a blank control. The scents from adult conspecifics elicited the quickest and highest chemosensory responses (i.e., short latency times and high tongue-flick rates), although we did not find differential responses to scent of males and females. constrictor snakes used chemical cues to recognize conspecifics and that the scent of individuals of different ages elicited chemosensory responses of different magnitudes. We used tongue-flick experiments to examine whether these snakes were able to discriminate between scents from mature and non-mature individuals. In this study, we used 24 individual Boa constrictor snakes (12 adults mature and 12 non-mature individuals) that had been captured in different areas of Ecuador, and were maintained in captivity at the Vivarium of Quito. Age discrimination based on chemical cues may be especially important to ensure access to sexually mature potential partners. Many snakes are able to use their chemosensory system to detect scent of conspecifics, which is important in many social contexts. Marianne Gabirot 1 *, 2 *, Pablo Picerno 3 *, Jorge Valencia 3, 4 *, Pilar Lopez 1 & José Martin 1
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