Infrared receptors in the facial pits of the Australian python Morelia spilotes.
There is a series of pits in the scales of the rostrum and posterior portion of the lower lips in some pythons and boas. In the Australian python Morelia spilotes, these pits are innervated by the maxillary and mandibular branches of the trigeminal nerve. Structural and neurophysiological evidence indicate that in the pits there are receptors that function as detectors of radiant heat flux.
D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D007259:Infrared Rays; D008340:Mandibular Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D008442:Maxillary Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012911:Snakes / Q000033:anatomy & histology*