Social olfaction: A review of the ontogeny of olfactory influences on vertebrate behavior

Research on the postnatal development of behavior involving ol-faction is reviewed. Included are investigations of olfactory responses of human neonates and young children, the development of preferences in various mammals, the ontogeny of the fright reaction in fish and amphibia, and the attraction of maternal odors for small mammals. The effects of early exposure and conditioning to olfactory stimuli on adult behavior in mammals and fish are reported including a survey of the status of the olfactory hypothesis in fish migration. Deprivation experiments uggest disruption of later behavior. Limitations of the present knowledge and directions for future research are presented. An increased interest in the role of olfaction in animal behavior is reflected by several recent reviews (Bardach and Todd, 1970; Bronson, 1971; Cheal and Sprott, 1971; E. O. Wilson, 1972; Johnson, 1973; Schultz and Tapp, 1973). However, none of these reviews has emphasized the behavioral evidence pertinent o the development of the influence of olfaction. This paper will review research on the importance of pheromones and other odors to neonates, the dependence of the sense of olfaction on chemical influences of early life, and the effects of early odor experience on adult behavior in mammals, fish, and amphibia. Relevant research in reptiles and birds, to my knowledge, has not been done. The term pheromone refers to chemicals liberated by one animal that result in a relatively specific modification of the development, reproduction, or behavior of a recipient animal (Bronson an