Brief communication
The role of the vomeronasal system in food preferences of the gray short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis domestica
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* Corresponding author: Mimi Halpern mimi.halpern@downstate.edu
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203 USA
Nutrition & Metabolism 2005, 2:6 doi:10.1186/1743-7075-2-6
Published: 22 February 2005Abstract
Although feeding deficits have been reported in snakes and lizards following vomeronasal system disruption, no deficit has been previously reported in a mammal. We tested gray short-tailed opossums with items from four different food categories prior to occluding access to the vomeronasal organ. Preoperatively, opossums preferred meat to fruit or vegetables. Following occlusion of the nasopalatine canal, but not after control treatment, opossums failed to demonstrate food preferences.