Flehmen response

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/flehmen-response

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the behavioral mechanism?Retraction of the upper lip and inhalation to direct scents
2. What is the target sensory organ?Vomeronasal organ (Jacobson's organ)
3. Why do animals curl their lips during the Flehmen response?The lip curling makes a vacuum that pulls scent molecules into the vomeronasal organ, so the animal can detect pheromones that the normal nose might miss.
4. How does the vomeronasal organ help animals during the Flehmen response?The vomeronasal organ, also called Jacobson's organ, sits on the roof of the mouth and has a duct behind the front teeth. It receives the scent molecules drawn in by the Flehmen response and sends signals to the brain to help the animal understand the scent.

Flehmen response: A mammalian behavior involving lip curling to enhance chemoreception via the vomeronasal organ.
Vomeronasal organ (VNO): A specialized chemosensory organ detecting pheromones and other chemical signals, located in the nasal cavity or palate.
Pheromones: Exocrine secretions that trigger a social response in members of the same species.
Chemoreception: The physiological response to chemical stimuli, such as smell and taste.