Mammals can sniff out danger -- scientists
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 10:04:00 08/22/2008
GENEVA -- Scientists at the University of Lausanne said Thursday that mammals can communicate danger to each other through smell.
The scientists found that when placed in an environment where there is a beaker of water containing warning pheromones emitted by other mice, the animals are able to immediately sniff out the danger and move away from the beaker.
The mice's keen reaction has been attributed to the 300 to 500 cells found at the entrance of their noses, called the Grueneberg ganglion.
This ganglion is present also in human beings, according to the scientist Hans Grueneberg who discovered it in 1973.
And the Swiss researchers believe that "one can imagine that humans have a similar method" of communicating danger to each other.
Cells in the Grueneberg ganglion use their own calcium to transmit the danger warning to the brain, scientists said.
When researchers exposed a mouse to other types of pheromones, smells and even mothers' milk, they did not witness any increase in the concentration of the intra-cellular calcium in the ganglion, suggesting that these substances failed to trigger the cells into action.
Only warning pheromones could trigger the warning signal, researchers said.
In another experiment, scientists removed a Grueneberg ganglion from a mouse to see how it reacted without this ganglion.
The mouse was found to be able to detect other smells, such as a hidden biscuit, but it failed to react to a warning pheromone.
The detection of these alert signals spark "specific behaviors" -- such as fleeing from danger or predators, researcher Marie-Christine Broillet told AFP.
Other species are known to deploy a similar system. Insects of the same species, for instance, send molecular signals to communicate danger to others.
|
