Skin lipids alone enable conspecific tracking in an invasive reptile, the Argentine black and white tegu lizard (Salvator merianae)
Fig 2
Tegus successfully choose conspecific skin lipid trails in a Y-maze.
Tegus (n = 7 males, n = 7 females) consistently followed isolated skin lipid trails from male conspecifics when only those lipids were present in the base and target arm (Male-only). When presented with a choice between male and female skin lipid trails, tegus chose the opposite-sex trail (target arm) rather than the same-sex trail (non-target; Male vs. female). In Male-only and Female-only trials, the non-target arm contained a neutral lipid trail (peanut oil) at the same concentration as the target lipid trail. ***P < 0.001, *P < 0.05, #0.05 < P < 0.10.