Contribution to the special issue on Reptile cognition: Chemically mediated self-recognition in sibling juvenile common gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) reared on same or different diets: evidence for a chemical mirror?

What is it about?

Self-recognition has generally been limited to visual monitoring, but animals with primary sensory systems may use other modalities, such as chemical recognition. We present experimental evidence, based on studies with juvenile gartersnakes tested with stimuli from themselves and their siblings, that they may have such recognition. This evidence, along with that accumulated with other reptiles, suggest that chemical self-recognition is possible in them.

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