Definition
Social chemosignals encompass all types of stimulations exchanged among members of a given species and that are detected through the chemical senses (i.e., olfaction, vomerolfaction, taste, tarsal chemoreception). These are carried by chemicals derived from physiological processes and circumstantially learned as social cues, as well as by specialized signals, termed pheromones, which were evolutionarily selected for communicative purposes.
It should be noted that whereas all pheromones are social chemosignals, all social chemosignals are not pheromones. There is indeed a definitional confusion leading to the indiscriminate use of the pheromone concept to designate any communicative process involving odors. In fact, pheromones may be conceived more as regulating than as informative factors. Thus, the...
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Schaal, B. (2009). Social Chemosignal. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_5488
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_5488
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