title: Ammonia as a pheromone in anuran tadpoles.
abstract: In laboratory experiments, conspecific excretions and ammonia solutions evoked avoidance reactions in tadpoles of three anuran species, Bufo bufo, Rana temporaria, and Rana arvalis. A differential sensitivity of ammonia chemoreception was determined for two anuran species. For Bufo bufo tadpoles, these characteristics at ammonia background concentration of 0.2 mg/l lied in the range 150 % < dI/I < 500 %, and for background of 0.4 mg/l the value lied in the range 400 % < dI/I < 500 %. For Rana temporaria tadpoles, differential threshold against ammonia background concentration of 0.15 mg/l was close to 200 % and against background ammonia concentration of 1.1 mg/l was close to 100 %. These results suggest that such sensitivity of both anurans is sufficient for using ammonia in intra- and interspecies communication.
authors.affiliation: Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. mantei@yandex.ru
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Manteifel
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Kiseleva
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism*; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002023:Bufo bufo / Q000378:metabolism; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D007814:Larva / Q000378:metabolism; D010675:Pheromones / Q000378:metabolism*; D011896:Rana temporaria / Q000378:metabolism; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D013550:Swimming
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones; D000641:Ammonia