Comparison of Tongue Extrusions in Representatives of Six Families of Lizards

Bissinger, Barbara E.; Simon, Carol A.

doi:10.2307/1563918

Cited by 39 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Since most studies de-voted to vomerolfaction have been performed on snakes, lizards are less known in this respect. However, the ability to detect chemical stimuli is documented for some species and seems to be well developed in Scleroglossa (Bissinger and Simon, 1979;Gove, 1979;Simon, 1983;Cooper, 1989;Vitt, 1986, 1989;Graves and Halpern, 1989;Goosse and Bels, 1991) and particularly in anguid lizards (Cooper, 1990a;Schwenk, 1993). The latter family was included into Scleroglossa (Estes et al, 1988) whose representatives are generally considered less visual than other lizards and rely more on chemical cues in various behaviours as do other active foragers (Cooper, 1990b).…”

Section: Wiley-liss Incmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological and kinematic study of the tongue and buccal cavity in the lizard Anguis fragilis (Reptilia: Anguidae)

Toubeau

Cotman

Bels³

1994

Anat. Rec.

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These observations suggest that following: 1) during tongue flicking the ventral surface of the tongue tips invariably makes contact with the substratum; 2) the microstructures of the tongue tips and the ridges of the anterior processes might be helpful for collecting and receiving, respectively, chemicals during tongue flicking; 3) the anterior processes may be apposed on the roof of the mouth next to the ducts of VNOs when the buccal floor is fully elevated; 4) due to their localization, the taste buds could be equally stimulated by the molecules transferred during tongue flicking.

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Section: Wiley-liss Incmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological and kinematic study of the tongue and buccal cavity in the lizard Anguis fragilis (Reptilia: Anguidae)

Toubeau

Cotman

Bels³

1994

Anat. Rec.

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“…It is apparent that many squamate reptiles engage in explora tory behavior under both natural [Gravcllc and Simon, 1980] and laboratory |D c Fazio cl al .. 1977;Greenberg, 1985] conditions and that tongue use is a significant ele ment | Bissenger and Simon, 1979], presumably contributing to detection of chemical information by the vomeronasal apparatus and/or gustation. However, tongue-flicking in squamate reptiles has both multiple causes and multiple functions, some of which may be unrelated to the acquisi tion of information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Central and Endocrine Aspects of Tongue-Flicking and Exploratory Behavior in <i>Anolis carolinensis</i>

Greenberg¹

1993

Brain Behav Evol

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Tongue-flicking in reptiles is frequently seen to increase in novel habitats and is presumed to involve the acquisition of chemical information. Like most behavioral patterns, however, tongue-flicking has both multiple causes and multiple functions, only some of which involve chemosensation. This paper describes units of exploratory behavior, including use of the tongue, in a microsmatic lizard, the green anole, Anolis carolinensis. This species employs its tongue in a manner suggestive of chemosensory exploration, but it possesses modest peripheral chemosensory organs and reduced central representation of chemosensory target cell groups. Further, specific elements of exploratory behavior are affected differently by treatments that involve altering levels of stress-sensitive hormones, androgen, and central catecholamines. Such differential responses suggest that exploratory behavior is an ensemble of individual units, some of which are selectively sensitive to specific physiological elements of the stress response and of elevated arousal.

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“…When evolutionary generalizations have been attempted, most studies have relied on Camp's [1923] taxonomy of squamates, especially his dichotomous division of these into the Ascalabota and Autarchoglossa |e.g. Madison, 1977: Bissinger and Simon. 1979;Duvall.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Evolution of Chemoreception in Squamate Reptiles: A Phylogenetic Approach

1993

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Recent advances in the field of squamate reptile chemoreception have been paralleled by the growth and preeminence of cladistics in the field of systematics, but for the most part, workers in the former have failed to incorporate the conceptual and informational advances of the latter. In this paper, I attempt a preliminary rapprochement by combining the methods of phylogenetic systematics and current hypotheses of squamate relationships with an overview of squamate chemosensory biology. This purely phylogenetic approach leads to a number of falsifiable generalizations about the evolution of chemoreception in squamates: 1) Evolution of this system is conservative rather than plastic, reflecting to a large extent suprafamilial attributes rather than adaptation to local conditions; Anguimorphs are highly chemosensory and teiids show convergence with this group; 3) Tongue-flicking, a bifurcated tongue tip, a vomeronasal (VNO) mushroom body, and a complete circular muscle system in the tongue are a correlated character complex associated with the attainment, in squamates, of a direct VNO-oral connection and the loss of a VNO-nasal connection; 4) There is little support for a visual-chemosensory dichotomy within Squamata; 5) Gekkotans are allied with Autarchoglossa, both phylogenetically and in terms of chemosensory biology; 6) Iguania are highly variable in chemosensory development; iguanids represent the primitive iguanian condition, while agamids and chamaeleonids have secondarily reduced or lost their chemosensory abilities; 7) Apparent contradictions in chemosensory behavior among iguanids probably represent intrafamilial divergence; 8) Ecological correlates within Iguanidae and other taxa might be spurious, resulting from historical factors unrelated to the adaptations in question; 9) The mechanical demands of lingual food prehension have constrained chemosensory evolution in Iguania; chemosensory evolution within Scleroglossa was permitted by the liberation of the tongue from this ancestral role.

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Comparison of Tongue Extrusions in Representatives of Six Families of Lizards

Cited by 39 publications

References 14 publications

Morphological and kinematic study of the tongue and buccal cavity in the lizard Anguis fragilis (Reptilia: Anguidae)

Morphological and kinematic study of the tongue and buccal cavity in the lizard Anguis fragilis (Reptilia: Anguidae)

Central and Endocrine Aspects of Tongue-Flicking and Exploratory Behavior in <i>Anolis carolinensis</i>

The Evolution of Chemoreception in Squamate Reptiles: A Phylogenetic Approach

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