Cloacal salamanders

Male red-backed salamanders Plethodon cinereus) in Petri dishes were given a choice between own feces and those of another male. They preferred their own. The same was true for washes from the cloacal glands (Simon and Madison, 1984). While this may represent discrimination of own and other, rather than true individual recognition, another experiment showed... 

Simon, G. S. and Madison, D. M. (1984). Individual recognition in salamanders cloacal odors. Animal Behaviour 32,1017-1020. 

Norris, D.O., Austin, H.B. Hijazi, A.S. 1989. Induction of cloacal and dermal glands of tiger salamander larvae Ambystoma tigrinum) Effects of testosterone and prolactin. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 73, 194—204. 

Simon, G.S. Madison, D.M. 1984. Individual recognition in salamanders cloacal odours. Anim. Behav., 32, 1017-1020. 

Two attempts have been made to identify the source of the pheromones used in territorial communication by salamanders. The first was by Simon and Madison (1984), using experimental procedure (4) and Plethodon cinereus. They provided each male salamander with a choice of two substrates, each marked with either fecal pellets or cloacal washes. On one side, the pellets (or washes) were the test animal s own on the other side, the pellets (or washes) were from a conspecific. None of the salamanders had prior experience with each other. For both pellets and washes, salamanders significantly chose their own marked substrates over those of conspecifics. This was the first indication that fecal pellets are used to place pheromones in territories. In addition, the data from cloacal washes suggest that pheromones are produced by glands in or around the cloaca, and are not a by-product of the chemical composition of the feces per se. 

Sever, D. M., 1983, Cloacal anatomy of male salamanders in the pletho-dontid subfamily Desmognathinae, Herpetologica, 39 16. 

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