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1 March 2014 The Presence of Sexually Dimorphic Submandibular Glands in Taricha granulosa, the Rough-Skinned Newt (Salamandridae)
Scott R. Hippe, Catherine R. Propper, Nancy L. Staub
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Abstract

We investigate whether Taricha granulosa, the rough-skinned newt, possesses pheromone-producing courtship glands in the submandibular dermis. The hypothesis that these newts have a pheromone-producing mental gland repeatedly appears in the literature based on a small histological study and on courtship behavior in which males press their chins on females' nares. We identify a sexually dimorphic granular gland in the submandibular region of male newts. Its secretion is granular and PAS (periodic acid-Schiff)-positive, in contrast to the PAS-negative secretion of typical granular glands. This gland type is found only in males and only in the anterior submandibular region. Compared to glands evaluated from non-breeding males, the glands from animals collected in the breeding season are hypertrophied. This sexually dimorphic granular gland is distinct from the mental gland found in plethodontid salamanders; the plethodontid mental gland is an aggregate of individual glands, whereas the granular glands in T. granulosa are not clustered together to form a distinct unit. Our results support the hypothesis that males are secreting pheromones from submandibular glands during courtship in T. granulosa.

© 2014 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Scott R. Hippe, Catherine R. Propper, and Nancy L. Staub "The Presence of Sexually Dimorphic Submandibular Glands in Taricha granulosa, the Rough-Skinned Newt (Salamandridae)," Copeia 2014(1), 38-43, (1 March 2014). https://doi.org/10.1643/CH-13-080
Received: 10 January 2012; Accepted: 1 July 2013; Published: 1 March 2014
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