Dr. Stephanie Campos presenting her research at SICB 2020

A captive green anole (Anolis carolinensis) (Photo Credit: Dr. Stephanie Campos)

Exocrine signals (e.g., pheromones) and endocrine signals, like those associated with chemosensory organs, stimulate communication among and within species. Dr. Stephanie Campos is especially interested in the endocrine signals of reptiles and highlighted some of her work at SICB 2020. 

Dr. Campos is a postdoctoral research fellow at Georgia State University Center for Behavioral Neuroscience and Neuroscience Institute in Dr. Walt Wilczynski’s lab. She investigated the role of arginine vasotocin (AVT), a modulator of social interaction similar to the mammalian homologue vasopressin, on reptilian chemosensory systems. Previous work in green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) showed that AVT reduces aggressive visual display rates and stimulates females to display more than untreated counterparts.

In this study, Dr. Campos and colleagues tested the role of chemosensory systems in A. carolinensis by injecting resident males with AVT and introducing a male or female intruder. Ten minutes after injecting with AVT or a control solution, an untreated male or female was placed in the tank for thirty minutes. Chemical behavior, including tongue flick, jaw/chin rub, lip smack, lick, fecal/urine deposit, or cloacal rub were recorded.

They found that male intruders displayed more of these chemical behaviors toward individuals treated with AVT than controls. Additionally, males treated with AVT displayed quicker (e.g., tongue-flicking) to female intruders than controls. Dr. Campos speculates that AVT might boost production of odor cues or interior mediated endocrine-mechanisms. This might serve as an indication for multimodal communication in reptiles.

You can learn more about Dr. Campos’ research by following her on Twitter. 

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